Anti-money Laundering “Almost Completely Ineffective.” Why it Harms Us All

It’s time to rethink a system that lets criminals keep up to 99.9% of illicit earnings and costs trillions

Photo by John T on Unsplash

Aglobal surveillance system monitoring the financial transactions of billions of people is almost completely ineffective in disrupting criminal finances. Its massive cost is paid by businesses and ordinary citizens, and a regulatory framework focused on a tiny fraction of the problem limits the value of technology solutions, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, etc.

Eye-wateringly expensive compliance obligations (ultimately paid by all of us, in higher fees and taxes) hasn’t made us safe from crime, despite 30 years’ effort, high-profile arrests (like this alleged $250M crypto theft), and trillions of dollars complying with regulations with a success rate a fraction of one-percent from complete failure. Rather than help solve the real issue, technology ‘solutions’ framed in a self-limiting regulatory paradigm often ‘sweat’ the 0.1 percent impact already achieved.

However, the gap between intention and results is so ludicrously large that it might help trigger a leadership revolution, finally enabling real impact on crime, more strategic use of technology, and less…