Editorial
| Published date | 02 January 2018 |
| Date | 02 January 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-10-2017-0057 |
| Pages | 2-4 |
| Author | Barry Rider |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
Editorial
Cambridge symposium on economic crime
Over the past few years, governments and now the compliance industry appear to have
woken up to the practical importance of financial intelligence. Of course, the significance of
knowing who pays for what and where theykeep their money was not lost on Nero, so this
is nothing new. Indeed, at a meeting of ministers of justice and senior law officers in
Winnipeg, Canada, in 1977, concernwas expressed about the vulnerability of, in particular,
developing and more fragile economies to the threat of serious economically motivated
crime and organised crime. Ministers expressed the view that in combating what was seen
to be the destabilising agenda of the increasingly isolated Republic of South Africa, more
attention needs to be given to the economic aspects of crime. A major review of the then
existing arrangements for mutual legal assistance and co-operation between law
enforcement and other relevant agencies was commissioned by the British Government,
Commonwealth Secretariat and General Secretariat of ICPO-Interpol. The findings and
recommendations of this review were received by Commonwealth ministers and attorneys
general in Barbados in May 1980. It was recognisedthat then conventional mechanisms for
co-operation were inadequate in protectingvulnerable economies and merely police force to
police force did not work. Indeed, many resources relevant to combating economically
motivated crime were outside the police and consequentlythe Interpol network. As a direct
result of this, a special unit was established withinthe Commonwealth Secretariat, with full
diplomatic immunity, to spearhead at an intelligence level better collaboration and
co-operation between not just traditional police agencies but all agencies concerned with
promoting stability and security in the context of economic crime and related activity. In
many respects, this unit was the first financial intelligence unit and certainly the first to
operate at a supra-nationallevel.
In an attempt to bring together those individuals and organisations concerned with
promoting the prevention and disruptionof economic crime and especially organised crime,
a conference was organised withthe support of the University of Cambridge in 1982 at Jesus
College, Cambridge. This was the first Cambridge international symposium on economic
crime and was attended by 156 participants from 25 countries. The thirty-fifth symposium
took place, in Jesus College, during the first week of September2017 and had well over 1,800
participants from over 100 countries. Participants included ministers, legislators, senior
officials, regulators,law enforcement, intelligence and security personnel,diplomats, judges,
prosecutors, academics and many in the business and financial sectors and those who
professionally advise them. Last year the symposium as its primary theme questioned
where in preventing and controlling economically motivated misconduct the “buck
stopped”. This year, the symposium questioned whether those responsible were up to the
job. Of course, notwithstanding the importance of the overarching theme, over 50 specialist
workshops focused on a wide range of other issues including legal professional privilege,
debarment regimes and big data. Overthe past 35 years, there have been numerous and not
insignificant developments in all aspects of addressing the threats presented by economic
crime. However, one concern that repeatedly manifested itself throughout this year’s
symposium was the need for personal contacts which could facilitate trust and thus
facilitate meaningfulco-operation over and above all the developments that have occurredin
institutionalising mutual assistance and improving the efficacy and integrity of
communication. Whileperhaps gratifying for those who have been involved in the symposia
JMLC
21,1
2
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.21 No. 1, 2018
pp. 2-4
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-10-2017-0057
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