Official government policies against money laundering in the EU have been in place for roughly 25 years, after much concerted effort and a great deal of time and money invested. This volume examines the anti-money laundering policy of the EU Member States in connection to the threat of money laundering they face. During a three-year study the authors analyzed the policies in-depth by traveling to 27 Member States to interview over a hundred people involved in the fight against money laundering. The analysis includes an inquiry into the national supervisory architectures, a comparison of the definitions of money laundering used in practice, a breakdown of the role of Financial Intelligence Units and a cost-benefit analysis of anti-money laundering policy. Skillfully assessing the economic and legal effectiveness of anti-money laundering efforts in the EU, this comprehensive study will appeal to students, scholars and practitioners working in economics, banking, finance and law. Contents: 1. Introduction and Operationalization 2. Threat of Money Laundering 3. Harmonization of Substantive Norms in Preventative AML 4. Implementing International Conventions and the Third EU Directive 5. Supervisory Architectures in the Preventive AML Policy 6. Definitions of Money Laundering in Practice 7. FIU's in the European Union - Facts and Figures, Functions and Facilities 8. Information Flows and Repressive Enforcement 9. International Cooperation 10. Collection of Statistics 11. Effectiveness: Threat and Corresponding Policy Response 12. Cost Benefit Analysis 13. Summary and Conclusions

Money laundering is criminalised virtually all around the world and has been a law enforcement priority since the early 1990s. The international nature of money laundering, combined with estimations on the scope and the distorting effects it may bring about, make it a grave danger to national and international financial markets. At the same time monehy laundering is considred to be a danger to society due to its strong interaction with organised drugs and white-collar crime. Over the years a 'twin-track approach'has been developed, aiming at the prevention of money laundering on the one hand, and punishing the money launderers on the other. This book analyses the effectiveness of the anti-money laundering supervision of banks, real estate agents and accountants in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It thoroughly analyses the legislation, the institutional settings and competences of anti-money laundering supervisors, as well as the application of these competences in practice. Based on this analysis, a number of recommendations for the EU legislators and the national legislators are formulated in order to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of anti-money laundering supervision.