Swaps, Money Laundering, and a Perversion of Financial Engineering

Money laundering, from drug sales and other illegal activities, has become increasingly sophisticated over the years. The drug enforcement administration often finds money laundering buried in otherwise legitimate commodity transactions. For example, a U.S. based drug operation might repatriate drug profits to Colombia by purchasing commodities from Colombian corporations at above-market prices with the excess then paid out to drug cartels…[more]