As the Anti Money Laundering Blog mentioned on April 1, 2008, the U.S. State Department has listed the United Kingdom as a Major Money Laundering Country in 2008. The State Department however, had also previously listed the United Kingdom as a Major Money Laundering Country in 2007.
The State Department releases its list of Major Money Laundering Countries as part of its annual International Control Narcotics Strategy Report. At its Country Reports, the 2008 International Control Narcotics Strategy Report mentions that, among other things:
"The UK should develop legislation and clearly enforceable implementing regulations to ensure that beneficial owners are identified and verified and that customer due diligence is required and ongoing, regardless of an already established relationship with the client."
In my October 8, 2007 post, "Fighting Financial Fraud At U.K. Banks", I too raised the issue of the effectiveness of some of the anti-money laundering regulation in the United Kingdom. That particular post was partly based on a discussion I had with "Mr. London", who had investigated money laundering in the United Kingdom as a former vice president of a global bank. Mr. London had suggested during our discussion, that money laundering would likely increase in the United Kingdom because of the "complicity or misfeasance" of banks and the use of nominees to open bank accounts.
Copyright 2008 Fred L. Abrams