Prevention of money laundering and the role of asset recovery

The purpose of this paper is to examine the increasing emphasis of the UK anti-money laundering (AML) legislative framework, on the financial arrangements of criminals. Our qualitative study engaged key stakeholders from the AML environment through a series of focus groups. This included law enforcement; accountants; prosecutors; bankers and, importantly, ex-offenders. We argue that the inclusion of the views of a traditionally hard to reach group of ex-offenders, adds significantly to knowledge and understanding about effectiveness of AML. The research findings suggest that, at first glance, the focus on asset recovery has been successful. However, our respondents shared with us areas of tension and inconsistencies in application of the law, in particular between police and the courts. For example, whether it was better to prosecute the predicate offence  separately or in addition to the offence of money laundering; or whether to pursue criminal or civil recovery. We further find that criminals have been able to use their knowledge to circumvent the system, suggesting that greater effort is needed to promote cooperation, rather than competition, in successfully detecting and prosecuting offenders.     

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power,Prosperity and Poverty

This study addresses compliance and business practices at the local level subsequent to the international adoption of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme by states and the adoption of the voluntary System of Warranties by the diamond industry. This paper also explores the distance between norm creation, norm sustainability and norm expansion. Interests of various stakeholders led to the creation of international norms, and evidence supports widespread compliance at the state level. Data gathered at the local level of retailer suggests, however, that the regulatory system is not leading to the education of consumers that potentially transforms beliefs. Central to understanding the challenge of deepening and broadening new global norms is exploring the distance between compliance within the regulatory regime and the awareness or change of beliefs of stakeholders. Recommendations include steps to make the process of bringing diamonds to market transparent and available to public scrutiny.     

Why Cryptocurrencies Want Privacy: A Review of Political Motivations and Branding Expressed in “Privacy Coin” Whitepapers

New currencies designed for user anonymity and privacy – widely referred to as “privacy coins” – have forced governments to listen and legislate, but the political motivations of these currencies are not well understood. Following the growing interest of political brands in different contexts, we provide the first systematic review of political motivations expressed in cryptocurrency whitepapers whose explicit goal is “privacy.” Many privacy coins deliberately position themselves as alternative political brands. Although cryptocurrencies are often closely associated with political philosophies that aim to diminish or subvert the power of governments and banks, advocates of privacy occupy much broader ideological ground. We present thematic trends within the privacy coin literature and identify epistemic and ethical tensions present within the communities of people calling for the adoption of entirely private currencies.     

Developing the relevance potentialities of national security and foreign policy research: Some proposed criteria

While effective foreign and national security policy-making increasingly requires research that is produced outside government, little is known about how such research affects the actions of policy-makers, or why it may or may not be policy-relevant to them. This essay poses a number of criteria which can be used to weigh the policy relevance of applied social science research for national security and foreign policy issues. These criteria can be divided into content and process categories, the former including aspects of time, issue salience, format, and confidence; and the latter incorporating questions related to the origin of research, the strategy which informs it, and the tactics by which it is presented. Hopefully, such criteria can be applied to existing works, serve as guidelines for future research, and perhaps illuminate the general role of social knowledge in policy formulation.The authors wish to express their appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the National Security Education Seminar held at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 18–July13, 1973, directed by Fred A. Sondermann and conducted under the auspices of the National Security Program, New York University, Frank N. Trager, Director. This paper is a revised version of a report originally prepared for the seminar. The views presented here are those of the authors, and not necessarily of any of the institutions with which they are associated.