(Ebook) Anti-money Laundering Law: Socio-legal Perspectives on the Effectiveness of German Practices by Verena Zoppei (auth.) ISBN 9789462651791, 9789462651807, 9462651795, 9462651809

(Ebook) Anti-money Laundering Law: Socio-legal Perspectives on the Effectiveness of German Practices by Verena Zoppei (auth.) ISBN 9789462651791, 9789462651807, 9462651795, 9462651809

In the aftermath of recent multiple leaks such as the Panama Papers, the Swiss leaks, the Luxleaks, and the Bahama leaks, this book offers an interesting view on the underlying conflictinginterests that impede the adoption of more effective legislation to stop money launderingby way of the financial system.The central position of the book is that the declared goals underlying the criminalization ofmoney laundering have not been fulfilled. The effectiveness of the anti-money launderingregime in Germany is assessed by examining the indirect effects, collateral consequences,and positive interpretations of the law in action and of the law inaction; reducing the issueto a question of symbolic effectiveness does not reflect the complexity of the matter. What isdemonstrated, is that the goals attributed to the regime were too ambitious, and that a lowerdegree of effectiveness has been accepted in order to balance the inherent political, economicand financial conflicting interests.Unlike other volumes focusing on this issue, this book deals with the implementation of thelegislation and the consequences thereof, and is primarily aimed at legal sociologists, sociologyof law researchers, criminal lawyers, criminologists with an interest in white collar crime andpolitical scientists studying measures against illicit financial flows and the concrete implementationof anti-money laundering laws. The book will be of interest to both internationalpolicymakers and consultants as well as their counterparts in Germany for instance workingon improving the instruments to fight organized crime and prevent the financing ofterrorism through money laundering.The complexity of the anti-money laundering regime and all the variables are exhaustivelyand critically reviewed in the assessment, thereby providing complete instructions for futurelegislative steps. The case study regarding the situation in Germany maximizes readers’ insightsinto concrete effects of the implementation of international anti-money laundering standardsat a national level, and the opinions of professionals working in the field and of experts on thelaw-making process are also illuminating. Moreover, the book equips non-German speakerswith the information needed to deal with the extensive German legal scholarly production onarticle 261 of the German criminal code and the current internal political debate on the matter.Verena Zoppei is a Fellow Researcher at the International Security Division of the GermanInstitute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.