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ARTICLE · 16 NOVEMBER 2018

Anti-Money Laundering: A Comparative Review Of Legislative Development

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The historical background of money laundering legislation began with the drug trade. Initial AML efforts were introduced primarily to curb the ability of drug cartels to use the proceeds of their crimes to process money from illegal drug activity and build larger drug businesses.

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector
Norm Keith
Norm Keith
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The historical background of money laundering legislation began with the drug trade.  Initial AML efforts were introduced primarily to curb the ability of drug cartels to use the proceeds of their crimes to process money from illegal drug activity and build larger drug businesses. The key historical turning point of AML legislation was the Vienna Convention of 1988 ("Vienna Convention"), where 43 countries agreed on an approach to address money laundering rather than solely focusing on the drugs trafficking and related monetary issues. Shortly thereafter, the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") of the G-7 issued a report specifically addressing money laundering, citing 40 recommendations which needed to be implemented by the international community to effectively address this issue. These recommendations have driven the structure of the AML regimes of Canada the U.S. and the U.K. to date.

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