Ferwerda, Joras --- "Criminological perspectives on money laundering: the efficiency of anti-money laundering policies" [2019] ELECD 2982; in Mitsilegas, Valsamis; Hufnagel, Saskia; Moiseienko, Anton (eds), "Research Handbook on Transnational Crime" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 112

Book Title: Research Handbook on Transnational Crime

Editor(s): Mitsilegas, Valsamis; Hufnagel, Saskia; Moiseienko, Anton

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Criminological perspectives on money laundering: the efficiency of anti-money laundering policies

Author(s): Ferwerda, Joras

Number of pages: 10

Abstract/Description:

The international fight against money laundering is costly. This does not have to be a problem if the benefits of this international fight outweigh its costs. Perhaps these are necessary costs to protect our societies. When we agree that crime should not pay, the main question is at what cost? How much would we be willing to spend on making crime less worthwhile? An efficiency analysis can inform us. In this chapter we discuss what we should know and what we do know about: (a) the amount of money laundering (is money laundering so big that we should fight it?); (b) the effects of money laundering (is it really a problem when money is laundered?); and (c) whether the fight against money laundering is worth it (what does a cost-benefit analysis tell us?).