5/9: Euros

[tw]

Originally posted by Tony Shepps
The first Euro coins are being minted and 12 out of the 15 EU nations are going to replace their money with these on Jan 1, 2002.

As a result money laundering has entered high gear as corrupt cash flow must be converted to other currencies (such as the dollar) so that they don't have to take their illegally earned cash to the bank for Euros.

This is a great time to go after and identify those money launders. The US, under Clinton, had identified and listed countries and banks suspected of laundering. Republicans pressured to stop this - it is a long article in The Economist. Now the Bush administration has put everything on hold.

A common technique is to use banks overseas partners. IOW to find the money originally transfers out of NYC to a parnter bank first in Belguim, then in Cayman Island, then Bermuda... eventually the investigators found the money still back in NYC - but only after fighting uncooperation from Cayman Islands and even worse Bermuda. Other uncooperative nations include Russia, many of the Pacific Ocean countries, and a few allies. As noted, the Bush administration has suspended pressure on these banks to cooperate with investigators.