Money laundering

How it is used

Central to compliance work. Banks must detect and report suspected money laundering, and staff take anti-money laundering (AML) training. Experts describe three stages: placement, layering and integration.

Example sentences

1. The bank was fined for weak controls against money laundering.

2. Large cash deposits followed by quick transfers abroad can be a sign of money laundering.

Common collocations

• anti-money laundering
• money laundering risk
• suspected money laundering
• combat money laundering

Related terms

• AMLShort for anti-money laundering: the laws, controls and procedures that banks use to prevent, detect and report money laundering.
• KYCShort for know your customer: the checks a bank makes to confirm a customer's identity, address and source of funds before and during the business relationship.
• suspicious transaction reportA confidential report that a bank must send to the national financial intelligence unit when it suspects that a transaction is linked to money laundering or terrorist financing.
• complianceFollowing the laws, regulations and internal rules that apply to a bank; also the name of the department that checks that this happens.
• fraudDeceiving someone to get money or another advantage illegally, such as using stolen card details or opening an account with a fake identity.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• money laundering · Criminal Law & Justice

More terms: Regulation & Compliance

• regulator
• capital adequacy ratio
• Basel III
• sanctions
• terrorist financing
• PEP
• beneficial owner
• banking secrecy
• reserve requirement
• regulatory reporting