FATF Issues Money Laundering Typologies Report

The FATF has for the second year in a row reviewed the vulnerabilities the Internet might offer for money laundering, expanding its consideration of web-based laundering to other areas including gambling through the Internet. Virtually all FATF members reported the existence and increased use of Internet financial services in their jurisdictions. Three characteristics of the Internet that aggravate certain “conventional” money laundering risks are: (1) the ease of access through the Internet; (2) the depersonalization of contact between the customer and the institution; and (3) the rapidity of electronic transactions. These factors simultaneously increase the efficiency and reduce the costs of financial services, but they also make customer identification and routine monitoring of accounts and transactions by financial institutions more difficult…[more]