Europe Struggles to Effectively Tackle Money Laundering

A new report from Europol has revealed that efforts across the EU to tackle money laundering offences are meeting with limited success.

According to the report, EU Financial Intelligence Units received almost one million reports in 2014, and over 65% of these reports were received by just two Member States - the UK and the Netherlands.

Europol says that although the overall number of suspicious transaction reports continues to increase, only around 10% of these reports are further investigated – a figure that is largely unchanged since 2006. Even where further investigations take place, the likelihood of successful asset recovery is apparently low, and barely 1% of criminal proceeds are confiscated by relevant authorities at EU Level.

According to Europol, these stark findings make it impossible not to question why the success rate of the system is so poor and what can be done about it. Europol says that it is uniquely positioned to see how financial intelligence assists cross-border investigators across Europe dismantle organised criminal groups. It also has a clear picture of the shortcomings of the current framework.

“Clearly there is no lack of activity, and a great deal of time and resources are put into sending, receiving and handling millions of reports each year,” commented Europol Executive Director Rob Wainwright. “However, the fact that very few are either the result of a police-directed effort or the subject of any significant feedback indicates that resources may be misdirected.”

“The anti-money laundering regime still operates at a domestic level, and has not yet fully adjusted to the reality of a problem that is defined by its international nature,” he added. “While structures exist to facilitate cross-border cooperation between national units, significant barriers in international cooperation and information exchange remain, revealing the urgent need for supranational overview in increasingly global markets.”

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