Money laundering and terrorist financing are serious problems that may not only disrupt the stability and reputation of financial institutions, but also affect a wide range of individuals. Therefore, this kind of conduct can be punished as a crime, including the active involvement of banks in money laundering. However, the diploma thesis focuses mainly on preventive measures introduced by the provisions of administrative law. The role of a well-functioning banking system is essential for the effective suppression of money laundering and financing of terrorism. Banks are the most frequent reporters of suspicious transactions and the bank services are used by wide range of persons. The role of banks is mainly determined by their designation as obliged entities by the Act no. 253/2008 Coll., on certain measures against the legalization of proceeds of crime and terrorist financing. The obligations arising out of this act are put into context with the Czech Banking Act and with regulations governing payments and implementation of international sanctions, including directly applicable laws of the European Union. The importance of the bank services is also caused by the regulation of cash payments. In connection with the activities of banks, the thesis reflects selected changes that will be introduced by...

This thesis attempts to provide a critical perspective on international efforts to prevent the financing of terrorism. The thesis argues that the fight against the financing of terrorism is a vital component of counter terrorism strategies and underlines the significance of international organizations in combating terrorist financing. The thesis examines the fund raising and movement activities of terrorist groups. Moreover, it analyzes the efforts of international organizations to combat terrorist financing and discusses the adequacy of these efforts. By arguing that international community&rsquo / s efforts are not adequate, the thesis makes some recommendations. Finally, the thesis tests to what extent neo-liberal institutionalist approach, which mainly concentrates on cooperation and regime formation regarding the global problems faced by the states, can explain the international fight against the financing of terrorism.

It has been widely accepted that the banking industry is highly dependent on information technology (IT). Due to its pervasiveness and intertwining nature in most aspects of banking business, IT has also significantly become one of the critical components that facilitate the ability of banking institutions to meet regulatory requirements in an efficient and a cost-effective way. For instance, in the effort to mitigate the activities of money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF), various information on banking customers are timely and accurately gathered and analysed through automation. Furthermore, in many instances, IT systems exclusively built to achieve a similar objective are frequently established, and comparable to most IT implementations in the banking institutions, they are often can be equally regarded as a significant investment as well. Viewed from the longstanding debate on the value of IT investments to organisations, empirical research within the IS domain seemed to have placed less emphasis on the possible contribution of regulatory IT implementations. While it is easy to conceive that these IT deployments were never intended to directly benefit banking business from the outset, a study from this perspective should not be disregarded, but instead, warrant to be equally explored. The rationale for this statement can be attributed to the aforementioned assertion regarding the potentially substantial monetary investments required. In addition to this, it may also be due to the high tendency of stringent regulations being enforced in the future, and hence, could inevitably place a significant demand on organisational resources, and further influence their associated opportunity costs. For that reason, this study has attempted to fill the identified research gaps by conducting an investigation from the standpoint of a topical issue regarding anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CFT) implementation efforts within banking institutions. Utilising a conceptual framework that leverages the resource-based view (RBV) to structurally analyse a list of research objectives, empirical evidence of business benefits and the associated capabilities through organisational AML/CFT efforts have indeed been discovered. The benefits are particularly in the form of having the opportunity to leverage various information and infrastructure that were established for regulatory purposes. Further evidence has also suggested that selected AML/CFT alerts have the potential of providing unique opportunity for the organisation to trigger time-critical event-based marketing activities, resulting in a possible improved competitive positioning (ICP). Importantly, by appreciating the insights obtained through the research, a conceptual framework is proposed, which may aid to structurally assess the possible benefits of any organisational regulatory IT implementations.

The diploma thesis deals with implementation of legal framework in fight against financing of terrorism and money-laundering in context of anonymous private financial institutition residing in the Czech Republic. Implementation is exercised on the basis of analysis of internal regulations of the institution, anonymous interviews with Compliance officers and survey of the employees from the branches. The thesis shreds some light on problems regarding implementation and also regarding the knowledge of AML/CFT on the side of employees, who are in daily direct contact with clients. In light of these findings, the thesis suggests need for greater enlightment for these employees.

For a better understanding of relevant issues, in the introduction of the thesis contains a brief historical excursus to that topic, and there are explained the general features of the process of legalization of proceeds from crime, including putting illustrative examples from the area of the criminal law, as well as in the area of financial law. As examples have been selected major bank cases which were related to AML/CFT, but also had much wider impact. The diploma thesis deals with measures against the legalization of proceeds from crime in area of banking and credit institutions and focuses primarily on the measures arising from major law Act no. 253/2008 Coll., on certain measures against the legalization of proceeds from crime and terrorist financing. Consequently, the thesis deals partly with law of the European Communities, which was reflected into national legislation by the Act no. 253/2008 Coll. Following this, the diploma thesis also mentions other sources that have been adopted not only at national level but also in the context of international law. In addition the diploma thesis also identified some selected authorities which are involved in AML/CFT, where attention is aimed to the Financial Analytical Unit, which holds a key position in this specific field. Money laundering is a...

L’intérêt grandissant des États à lutter contre le phénomène de blanchiment s’est manifesté, dans un premier temps, à travers des actions unilatérales axées sur le produit du trafic des stupéfiants. La prise en charge de cette question par la communauté internationale, motivée par ailleurs par les conséquences néfastes du trafic de stupéfiants sur l’économie mondiale, a par la suite suscité la mise en commun des efforts nationaux dans ce domaine. Toutefois, s’agissant du phénomène de blanchiment lato sensu, l’approche extensive adoptée s’est accompagnée de normes tous azimuts de la part d’instances internationales et régionales créant en quelque sorte un cadre illisible et inapplicable de lutte anti-blanchiment.Au milieu de cette cacophonie normative, le Groupe d’Action Financière s’érige, depuis sa création en 1989 à l’initiative du G7/8, comme étant le haut-lieu d’interprétation et de mise en œuvre des normes internationales, notamment les conventions onusiennes et les résolutions du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies. L’efficacité des systèmes nationaux de lutte anti-blanchiment est essentiellement poursuivie sur la base de mesures préventives axées sur les risques de blanchiment de capitaux et de financement du terrorisme. / The increasing interest of countries to combat money laundering has initially been expressed through unilateral actions geared specifically to combatting drug trafficking. The takeover of the fight against money laundering by the international community, otherwise triggered by the disastrous consequences of drug trafficking and the products attained therefrom on the world economy, has imposed at a later stage the conjunction of national initiatives in this area. However, concerning the phenomenon of money laundering lato sensu, the comprehensive approach adopted has generated innumerous norms from international and regional bodies outlining an ambiguous and inapplicable framework.Amid this normative chaos, the Financial Action Task Force stands, since its creation in 1989, as the arena for setting, broadcasting, and ensuring adequate interpretation and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) international norms. The AML norms include inter alia the UN Conventions and UN Security Council’s resolutions. The effectiveness of the national systems is pursued on the basis of preventive measures in strict proportion to actual risks of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The illicit practice of money laundering (ML) poses global challenges, causing harmful repercussions for society. Legislators worldwide have placed financial institutions at the forefront of initiatives aimed at preventing ML. Even with the adoption of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures, financial institutions continue to face challenges in combating illicit financial activity. Prior investigations primarily concentrated on evaluating the regulatory framework itself, leaving gaps in understanding other aspects causing ineffective AML efforts. Going further in-depth, this study aims to explore how institutional pressure leads to ineffective ML prevention within Finnish financial institutions. To address these challenges, the institutional theory and several concepts supported the exploration of the institutional environment, with due consideration given to social constructs. Furthermore, a qualitative approach is employed due to the exploratory nature of this study. It consists of the analysis of both classified and public official documents from the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), interviews held with representatives actively involved in financial institutions' AML efforts, and other official AML guidelines. The findings of this study acknowledge the suboptimal regulatory pressure and reveal instances of data deficiencies. However, the social context emerged as the most influential factor, highlighting the gap between AML efforts and ML activities.

Records of actual owners of limited liability companies and joint stock companies This diploma thesis deals with the records of actual owners of limited liability companies and joint stock companies. The aim of the thesis is to introduce the basics of the institute of records of actual owners and then to discuss its key features and problematic issues associated with it. At the beginning, the thesis outlines the evolution of the institute of records of actual owners, and further evaluates the potential to meet the goals associated with the introduction of the evidence. At the same time, the thesis draws attention to the pitfalls that the records can bring in practice. The thesis also deals with the issues related to the extent of the mandatory information about the actual owner and the issues related to the storage and handling of such information. The thesis leads a discussion to interpret the relevant provisions to keep a balance between the necessary prerequisites for fulfilling the meaning and purpose of the records and the rights of a legal persons. In the following chapters, the thesis focuses on the definition of the actual owner and on the systematization of the ways in which a natural person or group of natural persons can be an actual owner. The thesis interprets the provision defining...

The intent of this thesis is to research the anti-terror legislation of 15 countries and the history of terrorist incidents within those countries. Both the anti-terror legislation and the history of terrorist incidents will be researched within the time period of 1980 to 2009, a 30 year span. This thesis will seek to establish a relationship between the occurrence of terrorist events and when states change their anti-terror legislation. Legislation enacted can vary greatly. Common changes in legislation seek to undercut the financing of terrorist organizations, criminalize behaviors, or empower state surveillance capabilities. A quantitative analysis will be performed to establish a relationship between terrorist attacks and legislative changes. A qualitative discussion will follow to analyze specific anti-terror legislation passed by states in response to terrorist events.

Since the late 1980s, efforts made by the international community to deal with the complex and global problem of money laundering have stimulated the creation and definition of the so-called 'international crime of money laundering', which is included in various United Nations and Council of Europe international treaties, as well as European Union Directives. The Central purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the main goal of effectiveness in the adaptation of the international crime of money laundering at the domestic level, might undermine other values that international law is seeking to protect, namely the guarantee of due process and the adequate protection of human rights principles. Then, if the adoption of any element of the crime shows to be inconsistent with civil rights and guarantees, to propose how deficiencies could be remedied.