Luijerink & Maguire (2013), Australia's Money Laundering Essay

Luijerink & Maguire (2013), Australia's money laundering laws are among the world's toughest, particularly with regards to reporting requirements. Regulated entities are required to report all international electronic funds transfers, regardless of size (Luijerink & Maguire, 2013). Recent anti-money laundering legislation like the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act of 2006 have been severely criticized for their contradictory ability to glean more information but result in minimal increases in prosecutions due to the strict interpretation of the electronic funds transfer clause. Increased reporting of the electronic funds transfers offers "more information to inform investigations, but conversely require additional resources to process and analyse the information," (Luijerink & Maguire, 2013). Australia's laws are tougher than many other comparable nations due to the electronic funds transfer clause, and also to strict penalties -- prison sentences of over twenty years and fines in the millions. In spite of these provisions, other jurisdictions boast more successful prosecutions (Luijerink & Maguire, 2013).The Australian Government Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is the "regulator and financial intelligence unit" regarding matters related to money laundering (Australian Government Attorney-General's Department, 2013). AUSTRAC works in conjunction with lesiglation like the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF). However, the Attorney General's Department is responsible for the actual policy, and oversees its enforcement. The Department of the Attorney-General (2013) defines money laundering as "the processing of criminal profits to disguise their illegal origins." The AML/CTF effectively links money laundering with terrorism financing, as the mechanisms by which these criminal acts occur are similar. For example, the many AML/CTF provisions related to electronic transfers would apply to both cases. The AML/CTF was designed to meet international standards related to both anti-terrorism and money laundering schemes, under the auspices of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The AML/CTF provides an overview….....