Mühl, Burkhard --- "Access by law enforcement agencies to financial data" [2013] ELECD 937; in Unger, Brigitte; van der Linde, Daan (eds), "Research Handbook on Money Laundering" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 452

Book Title: Research Handbook on Money Laundering

Editor(s): Unger, Brigitte; van der Linde, Daan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857933997

Section: Chapter 32

Section Title: Access by law enforcement agencies to financial data

Author(s): Mühl, Burkhard

Number of pages: 10

Abstract/Description:

This chapter asks whether access by law enforcement to financial data is it effective, or (is) in fact the weak link in the investigation of financial crime and the tracing of criminal proceeds? Successfully investigating financial crime relies heavily on the ability of law enforcement agencies to get access to financial data in order to follow suspicious financial flows and to trace the proceeds of crime. The aim of this chapter is to provide an insight into the issue of how law enforcement can access financial information. The article is based on the findings of research that has been carried out by the author amongst the members of the CARIN Network, which at the time surveyed 46 countries and jurisdictions, including all 27 countries of the European Union. The research provided general information on how the systems in the respective countries function, supplemented by five cases studies which focused in particular on the identification of bank accounts via central bank account registers, central credit referencing agencies and other means.