SWIFT data can be a global vantage point for tackling global money laundering

While many people are rightfully concerned about the serious risks for money laundering raised by new cryptocurrencies, banks and financial institutions that have been around for decades and centuries – and have been subject to several anti-money laundering provisions and know-you-customer procedures – are still abysmally failing to detect money laundering schemes. In 2011, the UN reported that “the ‘interception rate’ for anti-money-laundering efforts at the global level remains low. Globally, it appears that much less than 1 per cent (probably around 0.2 per cent) of the proceeds of crime laundered via the financial system are seized and frozen.” In 2016, Europol reported that “the amount of money currently being recovered in the EU is only a small proportion of estimated criminal proceeds: 98.9% of estimated criminal profits are not confiscated and remain at the disposal of criminals.”