Increased Anti-Money Laundering Banking Regulations and Terrorism Prosecution

After 9/11, anti-money laundering banking regulations were increased to counter terrorism finance. This study attempts to identify whether increasing banking regulations has countered terrorism finance by reviewing terrorism prosecutions. This study looked at federal terrorism prosecutions from January 2004 through April 2009. The study reviewed court documents and case backgrounds for indicators that anti-money laundering banking regulations were useful to the terrorism prosecution by either detecting terrorism financing or by supporting other charges, such as money laundering. The study did not find that banking regulations detected terrorist financing. The avoidance of banking regulations was used to support money laundering charges in two cases; however, pre-9/11 regulations would have sufficed. The study found that increasing anti-money laundering banking regulations had limited effects on countering terrorism financing. How anti-money laundering banking regulations are implemented within a counter-terrorism finance regime should be reevaluated.

Author: Naval Postgraduate School

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Aug 08, 2014

Number of Pages: 80 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1500771058

ISBN-13: 9781500771058