Combating Money Laundering - Research Paper Example

Technological advances are some of the avenues that have made money laundering easier as criminals exploit these technologies to conceal the illegal sources of their valuables such as money and jewels. Fortunately, governments have recognized the menace, which is money laundering and have designed, implemented, and evaluated the effectiveness of these interventions in curbing financial crimes such as money laundering. The United States, for example mandates the Department of Treasury and agencies such as the FinCEN to implement anti-money laundering policies.

However, more needs to be done for money laundering to e effectively detected, prevented, and stopped all together. Introduction Recent times have recorded an increase in the rate and scope of international crimes, more so with respect to the financial aspects of crimes. This scenario has been prompted by the globalization and the rapidly advancing technologies. Money related crimes have since become major multifaceted problems for law enforcement and the public. Besides being local and national crime problem, money laundering has become an international problem, prompting major financial and political superpowers such as the United States of America and other Western states to design and implement various strategies and policies to curb the issue (Harvey, 2008).

Consequent to this increasing threat of money laundering and other financial crimes, many a state has since embarked on concerted efforts to combat this kind of crime. Included in these strategies is the designing and the enactment of counter-money laundering laws, shared by many agencies, institutions, and countries. Second, some countries such as the United States of America have established stringent bilateral and multilateral agreements to strengthen their monitory policies and practices and to further collaboration among states of similar interests.

These collaborative efforts specifically target the creation of awareness of the serious threat that is money laundering among states. In addition, efforts have not been spared in spreading the message on the importance of acknowledging that money laundering is in deed a problem that affects society directly (Levi & Gilmore, 2002). Furthermore, countries such as the United States of America prevent organizations considered criminals from accessing its financial systems. This paper explains what money laundering is, how it is used, and the steps the United States has taken to curb the crime.

Money Laundering Illegal money is often the outcome of most criminal acts, which are mostly driven by greed for profit. Consequent to profits of criminal acts and omissions, illicit money often find their way into the legal financial systems of a country. Generally, money laundering entails concealing given financial assets so that their illegal activities are not detected. In fact, money laundering is one of the factors supporting organized crimes as criminals mix the monetary proceeds from their criminal acts with other seemingly legal sources (Kochan, 2005).

There are several negative effects of money laundering. These include its effects on fueling terrorists, arms dealers, drug dealers, and other criminals, thus expanding their operations. Additionally, money laundering criminals have managed to manipulate financial systems in the United States and other countries, further