From crime prevention to norm compliance: anti-money laundering (AML) policy adoption in Singapore from 1989–2021
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-12-2021-0134 |
| Published date | 21 January 2022 |
| Date | 21 January 2022 |
| Pages | 69-92 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
| Author | Rishik Elias Menon |
From crime prevention to norm
compliance: anti-money
laundering (AML) policy adoption
in Singapore from 1989–2021
Rishik Elias Menon
Centre for Banking and Finance Law, Faculty of Law,
National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Abstract
Purpose –Policy mobility scholarship concerning anti-money laundering (AML) has typically favoured the study of
power structures and interests to the neglect of the constructivist perspective and the local cultural–symbolic driving
forces of policy adoption. This study aims to redress this, by analysing the shifting ideational drivers of AML policy in
Singapore over the past 31 years through a thematic analysis of Singapore’s parliamentary debates (Hansard).
Design/methodology/approach –Through a thematic analysis of Singapore’s Hansardover the past
31years, this study seeks to present a social constructivistperspective of AML policy adoption in Singapore.
Findings –The thematic analysisreveals how the internal driving forces of AML policy in Singapore have
shifted, from the idea of “crime prevention”in the early1990s, to the symbolic value of “international norm
compliance”bythe 2010s.
Research limitations/implications –This constructivist perspective of AML policy adoption is
particularly usefulin complementing the existing materialist theoriesof AML policy diffusion and allows us
to betterappreciate the historical nuances ofAML policy transfer across the globe.
Practical implications –This research will provide a useful comparative case study fo r other policy mobility
scholars interestedin presenting a constructivist account of AML policy adoption in different jurisdictions.
Originality/value –There is no literature in the field of policy mobility, explainingthe diffusion/transfer
of AML policy froma social constructivistperspective.
Keywords Singapore, Crime prevention, Social constructivism, Norm compliance,
Anti-money laundering policy, Policy mobility
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose and background
1.1.1 The rise of the global anti-money laundering regime. The global effort to combat
money laundering was first articulated in the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988 (Vienna Convention), though even then it was
This research was undertaken during the author’s tenure at the Centre for Banking and Finance Law
(CBFL), National University of Singapore. The author wishes to extend his gratitude to CBFL for
supporting the research, and in particular, his centre directors, Professors Dora Neo and Sandra
Booysen, for their kind pastoral support during this COVID-19 pandemic. The author also wishes to
thank Professor Peter Alldridge, Dr Miriam Goldby, Eric Chan and Andrew Perkins for their
constructive comments during my working paper presentation. Lastly, a special thanks goes out to
Dr Nick de Cruz for his guidance on qualitative research methods and thematic analysis. All mistakes
and omissions, however, remain my own.
Crime
prevention to
norm
compliance
69
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.26 No. 1, 2023
pp. 69-93
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-12-2021-0134
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1368-5201.htm
framed in the language of depriving drug traffickers of the “proceeds of their criminal
activities”[1]. The G7Paris Statement shortly followed this in 1989 that resolvedto launch a
task force with the purpose of preventing the laundering of drug trafficking proceeds [2].
Yet, despite only being on the global agenda for a relatively short 31-year period, an
internationally harmonised set of rules, laws and norms centred around fighting money
laundering has rapidly developedand can now be identified in nearly every country around
the globe [3]. Looking to the future, a number of studies currentlysuggest that the scope and
complexity of the demands of the international AML regime is likely to continue to rise
exponentially in the yearsto come [4].
1.1.2 Scholarship on anti-money laundering policy mobility. Scholars from the field of
policy mobility have soughtan explanation for the rapid rise of a globally harmonised AML
regime. To this end, the majority of the literature has looked to materialist explanations,
suggesting that AML policy adoption is typically the outcome of coercive power structures
and economic interests [5]. Closely tethered to this materialist perspective is literature
critical of the internationalAML regime, and organisations such as the FATF and the EU in
particular for being ineffective in preventing money laundering and disproportionately
excessive in its regulatoryscope [6].
After the materialist perspective of AML policy diffusion and transfer, the next most
widely accepted view is that of “lesson learning”, that assumes states are rational actors
with agency [7]. Rather than beingpressured into adopting AML laws as a result of coercive
actors and power structures, policy convergence is the result of goodwill cooperation
between willing actors either “copying”good practices or explicitly seeking technical
assistance and training, freely offered by other nation states or international organisations
[8]. Closely aligned to this perspective is the view that AML laws are a functional response
to money laundering, and that an increase in crime and money laundering demands an
increase in AML laws and regulations. Notably, this view is most typically held and
expressed by international organisations, and government agencies involved in the
legislative or regulatoryprocess itself, rather than policy mobilityacademics [9].
What these two theoretical perspectives lack is due attention and regard to the social-
constructivist perspective that policy adoption is also driven by local symbols and values.
While materialist theorieshave a tendency towards not fully recognising theautonomy and
agency of countries, liberal theories tend to ascribe too much rationality to national actors
and neglects the symbolicfunction played by the policy-making process[10].
1.1.3 Epistemological assumptions and purpose of this paper. As a starting point, this
paper argues that there is value in understanding the ideational drivers of policy adoption,
which complements materialist and rational explanatory theories of policy transfer.
Understanding the kind of ideational drivers that facilitate (or deter) AML policy adoption
increases our understandingof not just the policy transfer process, but also the legal form in
which AML laws and regulations might take within the context of a specific local culture
and tradition. The primary aim of this paper is, thus, to illustrate the value of the
understanding the constructivistaccount of AML policy adoption.
I choose Singapore as a case study, and thus seek to uncover the ideational drivers of
AML policy adoption in Singapore over the past 31years. First, by conducting a thematic
analysis of Singapore’s parliamentary debates (Hansard), and then by historically
contextualising these findings, I observe a broad trend in which the ideational drivers of
AML policy adoption in Singapore has shifted from the idea of “crime prevention”in the
early 1990s, to the symbolic value of “international norm compliance”by the 2010s. I
conclude by arguing that the constructivist perspective of AML policy adoption providesa
perspective of AML policy transfer that is sometimes absent in the dominant materialist
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