Financial enmeshment – banking systems in Western, and Central and South‐Eastern Europe. The interacting factors of anti‐money laundering, the rigours of transitional economy, and the underground illicit economy
| Pages | 89-98 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13685200610645247 |
| Author | Nicholas Ridley |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Financial enmeshment – banking
systems in Western, and Central
and South-Eastern Europe
The interacting factors of anti-money
laundering, the rigours of transitional
economy, and the underground illicit economy
Nicholas Ridley
BakerPlatt, St Helier, New Jersey, USA
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the banking systems in Western, and Central and
Southeastern Europe, focusing on the interactive factors of anti-money laundering, transitional
economies and the underground illicit economy.
Design/methodology/approach – Provides a comparative analysis of the banking systems in
Western, and Central and Southeastern Europe.
Findings – The transition economies of central and Southeastern Europe face, and have been
confronted for over a generation by, the interlinked problems of the transition stage post-1989, the
alternative or illegal economy, and the vulnerability of banking systems to money laundering. In
contrast, by the 1990s, Western European central banks have become established as an essential
government organ in macro-economic policies.
Originality/value – Suggests an interesting lesson that might be gained from the experiences of
central and Southeastern Europe and anti-money laundering since the late-1990s, where a national
bank or central bank has not been essential, indeed has been comparatively unimportant, compared to
the developed banking system led by the individual banks.
Keywords Financial institutions, Banking,Money laundering, Europe
Paper type Case study
History unfolds at a pace which leaves one breathless and renders writing at speed useless.
This quotation was that of a solid and reliable historian in the 1960s whose work of
XX century history up to the 1950s were a tour de force in terms of interpreting the
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and the post 9/11 events. With the constant fluctuations and changes this paper will
avoid political divisions and national terms, and will use the general terms “We stern”
and “Central and South-Eastern” Europe, a convenient division of the varying sizes of
the EU and the old Soviet bloc and transition economy states, all of whom face, and
have been confronted for over a generation by, the interlinked problems of the
transition stage of their economies post-1989, the alternative or illegal economy, and
the vulnerability of banking systems to money laundering.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1368-5201.htm
Financial
enmeshment
89
Journal of Money Laundering Control
Vol. 9 No. 1, 2006
pp. 89-98
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/13685200610645247
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