Follow The Money: A More Efficient Way To Catch Laundered Loot

The scale of money laundering globally is estimated to be as large as $1 trillion to $2 trillion annually. The overwhelming majority of this money is channeled to organizations trafficking drugs, weapons and human beings, or used to finance terrorist activity. However, despite the fact that almost 70% of that illicit finance flows through legitimate financial institutions, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that less than 1% of the global trade is seized and frozen. In light of that, it's perhaps unsurprising that regulators are stricter today when it comes to enforcement. Since the 2008 financial crisis, regulators, particularly those in the U.S., have been handing down record fines to financial institutions seen to be trading with sanctioned parties and countries, or failing to appropriately comply with anti-money laundering (AML) initiatives.