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Reading, John --- "International co-operation in fighting financial crime" [2015] ELECD 1431; in Rider, Barry (ed), "Research Handbook on International Financial Crime" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015) 658

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Financial Crime

Editor(s): Rider, Barry

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783475780

Section: Chapter 54

Section Title: International co-operation in fighting financial crime

Author(s): Reading, John

Number of pages: 10

Abstract/Description:

Much has been written about the need for international co-operation in combating transnational financial crime and the measures that are available to assist in that fight. In this chapter I discuss the nature of co-operation, the means by which co-operation is achieved and suggest some reasons why, despite the many benefits to be gained from co-operating with other places, some placeschoose not to co-operate. One hundred years ago, the most serious financial crime to be committed upon a citizen might have been the theft of his prized milking cow. Whilst there were some transnational crimes, such as piracy on the high seas, the vast majority of crimes were committed locally or perhaps in the neighbouring village or town. The perpetrators lived locally, the crime would be investigated by the local constabulary and the local magistrate would preside over the case. Accordingly, the process of bringing the perpetrator to justice was not particularly difficult. Writing in the Berkeley Journal of International Law in 2004, Stefan Cassella observed that “for law enforcement professionals the hallmark of the new millennium is the rapid increase in the globalization of crime”. Ten years on, and despite many initiatives at the national and international, governmental and non-governmental levels, transnational financial crime continues to be a problem, not just for law enforcement professionals but for the economies of the nations for whom they work.