Money laundering can be defined as a process of converting the proceeds of illegal activities to legitimate money or other assets, or as a process whose aim is to conceal the origin and ownership of proceeds that come from illegal activities. Its main phases are placement, layering and integration. The main sources of dirty money are drug trafficking, procuring, arms trafficking, extortion, robbery and property crimes. The aim of this thesis is the analysis of the fight against money laundering in terms of financial law and from institutional point of view, evaluation of its success and the formulation of my own opinions on the possible improvement of the system components. The first part of thesis deals with the term of money laundering, its phases and characteristics and history. The second part analyses the legislation at international, EU and national level. Attention is paid to the AML Directives and to the AML Act. Main obligations prescribed by Directives and AML Act to obliged persons are identification obligation, due diligence, preservation of information, reporting of suspicious transactions, postponement of client's order, creation of internal policies and staff training. Then follows characterization of individual authorities and institutions involved in combating money laundering....

With the implementation of more and more stringent measures to prevent money laundering, criminals are resorting to the expertise of lawyers for assistance in the formulation of increasingly complex money laundering schemes. This expertise is provided both wittingly and unwittingly. The purpose of this research was to consider whether the South African anti-money laundering legislation places suspicious transaction reporting obligations, which are in line with and meet international directives, conventions and best practice frameworks, on attorneys. The study entails a consideration of the suspicious transaction reporting obligations of lawyers introduced by the Financial Action Task Force, the European Union, the United Kingdom and South Africa and provides an understanding of the concept of money laundering, the money laundering process and the areas in which lawyers are vulnerable to money laundering. The research found that the suspicious transaction reporting responsibilities of attorneys in terms of South African anti-money laundering legislation are not in line with international frameworks and best practice. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Auditing / MPhil / Unrestricted

Criminals make use of accountants to assist them, knowingly or unknowingly, with complex money laundering schemes. The nature of the accounting profession places accountants in an ideal position to identify possibly money laundering activities. The purpose of this research is to consider whether the reporting obligations of South African accountants in terms of section 29 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, No 38 of 2001, as amended, corresponds sufficiently with the services they provide so as to constitute an effective anti-money laundering measure. In order to evaluate the relevance of section 29, the reporting requirements of accountants practising in South Africa are compared with those of the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force. The research study will also analyse the money laundering process and the nature of the accounting profession and consider some of the methods used to perpetrate money laundering applicable to accountants. The research found that accountants in South Africa have a duty to report suspicious transactions only when they are party to such transactions or when they are going either to receive the proceeds of crime or be used for money laundering purposes. Accordingly, in view of the fact that accountants are more likely to be in a position to observe money laundering than to be party to such a transaction, the requirements of section 29 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, No 38 of 2001, as amended, are not effective when applied to accountants. Copyright / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Accounting / unrestricted