[简答题]What is the Money Laundering

参考答案: (A) Criminals and their associates use the financial system to make payments and transfers of funds from one account to another; to hide the source and beneficial ownership of money; and to provide storage for bank notes through a safe deposit facility. These activities are commonly referred to as money-laundering. 　　(B) Money laundering often involves a complex series of transactions and numerous financial institutions from many jurisdictions. Non-banking financial institutions such as bureau de change, check cashing services, insurers, brokers and traders are also increasingly utilized by money launderers. The money laundering process is more broadly classified into three basic steps; placement, layering and integration. 　　(C) The placement stage is accomplished by changing the bulk cash derived from criminal activities into a more portable and less suspicious form by depositing those proceeds into the mainstream financial system. The purpose of placement is to avoid detection by the authorities and remove the cash as far as possible from the proceeds’ illegal origins. The laundering mechanism is at its most vulnerable during placement because most illegal activity generates cash profits, which is bulky and difficult to conceal in large amounts. As a result, the money launderer has to find a solution to move large masses of cash into a more manageable form for introduction into the financial system. Such solutions could include using front corporations to deposit cash or check cashing businesses to convert cash to negotiable instruments such as traveler’s checks, cashiers checks and money orders. 　　(D) After the funds have entered the financial system, layering, the second stage of the money laundering process takes place. Layering involves creating a web of financial transactions, which in terms of their frequency, complexity and volume often resemble legitimate financial activity. Due to the web of parallel and serial transactions, it becomes increasingly difficult to reconstruct a paper trail. Offshore financial centers perform an important function in the layering stage. In an attempt to hide its true origins, the funds are often wire transferred into a financial or banking system through offshore accounts. Layering also usually involves two or more jurisdictions. 　　The final stage of the money laundering process is known as integration. Integration involves reintegrating the washed or cleansed funds with formal sector economic activity. There are a variety of financial instruments used to accomplish this task such as letters of credit, bonds, bank notes, bills of lading and guarantees. Quirk (AIIF) detects a shift from the use of currency in the AIH0s to non-cash money laundering in the AII0s. Listed below are common techniques and tools associated with money laundering.