Magister Legum - LLM / This paper discusses the progress of international anti-money laundering (AML) law with regard to making tax evasion a predicate offence for the crime of money laundering (ML). This paper will focus particularly on the recent amendments that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) made to its 40 + 9 Recommendations. The FATF Recommendations are recognised as the global AML standards. The amendments to these have resulted in tax crimes being made designated offences for ML. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the rationale behind this change and to assess the implications of bringing fiscal crimes under the AML regime.

Magister Legum - LLM / Annually, money laundering costs global financial markets $2.5 trillion. Money laundering is especially problematic in that it results in a plethora of socioeconomic problems including poor economic performance and an upsurge in crime. In fact, predicate crimes such as corruption, drug trafficking, tax evasion, smuggling, fraud, and terrorism are so embedded within money laundering so much so that combatting either is a complicated task. Although it is a daunting endeavour, best practice teaches that multilateral and international cooperation are most effective at fighting money laundering. For that reason, establishing locally sensitive and yet internationally focussed anti-money laundering regimes is a priority for numerous countries.

Money laundering is the act of converting money gained from illegal activity, such as drug smuggling, into money that appears legitimate and in which the source cannot be traced to the illegal activi ty. Criminal proceeds also include that which is derived from tax evasion. Estimates of the scale of money laundering globally range between 2 and 5% of the worlds Gross Domestic Product. Another study refers to money laundering as the third largest industry globally. Money laundering has devastating consequences for countries individually and for the global economy as a whole. Potential macroeconomic consequences include inexplicable changes in money demand, greater prudential risks to banks' soundness, contamination effects on legal financial transactions and greater volatility of international capital flows and exchange rates due to unanticipated cross-border asset transfers. A number of initiatives have been established for dealing with the problem at international level. Amongst the most significant is the formation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a body that was established by the G-7 nations in 1989 to develop a coordinated international 096572 response to money laundering. South Africa was recently accepted as a full member of the FAFT, having satisfied the FATF recommendations with the implementation of a Financial Intelligence Centre Act. The provisions of the Act came into effect on 1 June 2003. The Act imposes reporting obligations on accountable institutions like banks, insurance companies, estate agent and casinos. The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) is established by the Act in order to identify the proceeds of unlawful activities and to combat money-laundering activi ties. It aims to do so by making information collected by it available to investigating authorities (South African Police, Scorpions, Asset Forfeiture Unit etc. including SARS). The FIC will in the course of its functions build up a database of information, which it will retain and utilise to support the above-mentioned bodies in the performance of their functions. The FICA creates a special relationship particularly with SARS. The FIC data will assist SARS to combat tax evasion and to collect taxes more effectively. The Act explicitly requires all institutions to report any transactions that may be relevant to the investigation of any evasion or attempted evasion of any tax, levy or duty. Money laundering by its very nature does not lend itself to being accurately measured but based on estimates discussed above, this can amount to a substantial loss to the fiscus. The estimated range of between 2 and 5% of the world's GDP would translate to between R24 and R60 billion being laundered annually in South Africa. If one applies the minimum marginal tax rate of 18%, one arrives at a potential loss of between R4.32 and RI0.8 billion to the fiscus. Whilst the new Financial Intelligence Centre Act cannot totally eradicate the laundering of undeclared or criminal proceeds, the many obligations now placed on accountable institutions in terms of the Act is most likely to be a further deterrent or obstacle to tax evasion. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

With the advent of globalisation the sports industry has shown exponential growth in the last 20 years. The surge of commercialisation of sport, the unprecedented internationalisation of the sports labour market, the enormous sums of money paid for the broadcasting rights of big sporting events, the attraction by multinational blue chip sponsors as well as the direct private investment by the worlds super wealthy have all contributed to the growing economic and social importance of sports. This massive influx of big money into sports does have its drawbacks. The criminal world has always shown adaptability in finding new channels to launder the proceeds of their illegal activities. Ever increasing and stricter measures and standards put in place by inter-governmental bodies like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as well as the increasing compliance of financial institutions the world over with these standards has meant that various legitimate sectors are at risk of being infected with criminal money. In a Report released by the FATF entitled ‘Money Laundering through the Football Sector’ one of the vulnerabilities of football clubs that was identified was the increased strain on their financial needs. Big Clubs require large budgets to be able to compete and afford the best players. Prices for players appear irrational and are very difficult to control. Player salaries comprise a substantial portion of the clubs total budgets. The result of this factor is that a large percentage of clubs are in financial trouble. This financial vulnerability can make clubs more susceptible to offers made from criminals looking for avenues to launder their ill-gotten gains. A salary cap is simply put a limit on the amount of money a club is permitted to spend on salaries. This limit or cap comes in various forms but is usually implemented as a percentage of the club’s annual average revenues. It is a rather controversial measure and certainly has its detractors, but it has shown to increase competitive balance and maintain financial stability in the leagues that they have been introduced. Salary caps are in effect in professional team sports all around the world. It has been used successfully in North America in their National Football and National Basketball leagues respectively, as well as in Australia in the Australian Football League and the National Rugby League and into UK professional rugby by the Rugby Football League and later by the Rugby Football Union. This mini dissertation aims to illustrate the threat posed to professional football by criminal organisations seeking to find new ways to launder the proceeds of their crimes as well as provide an overview of money laundering as a crime. It further aims to provide an overview of salary capping and then tie in the purpose and benefits of the implementation of a salary cap and how it may inadvertently be used to curb money laundering. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

Magister Legum - LLM

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Money laundering is a non-violent crime, however when successfully executed it has a negative impact on society, as it tends to support other illicit activities, including terrorism. As was the case for other financial crimes, the internet opened the door for new tools that enable criminals to launder their illicit profits. One of these tools is cryptocurrency.This paper takes the form of a literature review, in order to find the most relevant and important work within the research topic, and to identify central issues associated with laundering money through cryptocurrencies. It aims to explain the crypto-laundering process, methods and features that make cryptocurrencies tempting to criminals when searching tools to launder their illicit profits.The findings of this literature review demonstrate that cryptocurrencies have more characteristics that appeal to launderers than deters them. The results also show the existence of different methods that are employed in crypto-laundering and how it mirrors traditional money laundering stages, making evident that crypto-laundering is a real threat. Due to these results, it is essential that the criminological community delve into financial crimes perpetrated in the online environment.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences / Department of Sociology

Sustainability is an important consideration in today’s society and all areas of textiles contribute to a negative environmental impact; in production, during the ‘in use’ phase and importantly, at the end of life. The use of fibres with alternative end of life options, such as recycling, to divert from landfill disposal, along with reduced temperatures for domestic laundering are becoming of increasing importance. However, concern arises when applied to the healthcare market, in particular, healthcare uniforms which could be contaminated with harmful microorganisms. It is common practice for healthcare uniforms in the United Kingdom to be laundered domestically by staff and, therefore, to establish current practices undertaken, a questionnaire to healthcare staff was distributed and resulted in 265 responses. Results were analysed to determine the most commonly used temperatures, detergents, frequency of laundering and items laundered with healthcare uniforms. The data showed that uniforms are not always laundered after every shift and the use of 40°C was common (33%, n=265). The survival of two frequently observed healthcare associated infections in hospitals, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, on the surface of polyester and cotton was established and the attachment analysed using Scanning Electron Microscopy. These results demonstrated that polyester had the lowest survival of both microorganisms and less attachment was seen on the surface of the fibre when compared to cotton. Polyester was selected for textile testing and a range of development fabrics were created using variations in yarn type and fabric structure. Conventional test methods were used to determine the comfort properties of the fabrics created, with results indicating that equal or better performance can be achieved when compared to current fabrics used for healthcare uniforms. To determine the optimal laundering process to achieve removal of microorganisms from the surface of textile items, three household detergents along with a standard reference detergent were tested for their efficacy against E. coli and S. aureus at three temperatures (40°C, 60°C and 71°C) and three times (3, 10 and 15 minutes). A domestic laundering cycle was then simulated whereby an inoculated swatch of fabric was washed and tested for recovery of bacteria to determine the most appropriate temperature for use in the home. The results of the investigation indicated that a standard 40°C domestic wash cycle was ineffective at achieving complete removal of microbial contamination and could allow cross contamination to occur. The use of a 60°C standard domestic wash cycle was found to be significantly more effective, achieving complete removal of microbial contamination.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law