Explaining prosecution outcomes for cryptocurrency-based financial crimes

Purpose Cryptocurrencies have been used to commit various offences, but enforcement efforts remain underdeveloped relative to the value of these crimes. This paper aims to examine factors associated with outcomes of US-based cryptocurrency financial crime prosecutions. Design/methodology/approach The authors studied the 37 resolved cryptocurrency-based financial crime cases in the USA to date, exploring the impact of offence, defendant and evidence characteristics on the mode of disposition and penalties. The authors used bivariate analyses and logistic regression models to determine relationships among these variables. Findings The presence of individual defendants only (rather than a corporate defendant or combination thereof) and the use of only a cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin in committing a crime each made a case less likely to be resolved by dismissal, trial or summary or default judgement. Originality/value This paper is the first to examine variables contributing to financial crime prosecution outcomes and has implications for prosecutorial decision-making, resource allocation and the prevention and detection of financial offences involving cryptocurrencies.

"The Phenomenon of Trade-Based Money Laundering in Bangladesh" - A Critical Review

Bangladesh is one of the victims of financial crime like money laundering. Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) has risen to 329.12 billion dollars in recent years and is steadily expanding. According to BASEL AML Index data (2020), Bangladesh's current AML score is 5.88. It stands in 38 rankings among 141 countries where Afghanistan ranks in the number one position, scoring 8.16, and Estonia ranks in 141 places with a score of 2.36. To fight financial crime like money laundering, The Central Bank of Bangladesh has taken necessary steps to be in line with FATF Status. In this connection, Trade-Based Money Laundering is a type of money laundering that shall closely monitor. Under-invoicing and over-invoicing are regularly practiced by the importers and exporters while declaring false prices of the goods. The remaining capital flies through "Hundi" and other media like Bitcoin or cryptocurrency platforms and uses offshore tax havens to hide the money. Though ML / TBML is a common problem over the entire world, in comparison to others, Bangladesh's progress is not significant, and not enough academic research is being published, which creates a considerable gap between the Government agencies and academia. This study attempts to break the ice between government agencies and academia. Still, more in-depth research shall be needed to combat Money Laundering (ML) or Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML).

Financial crime in the decentralized finance ecosystem: new challenges for compliance

Purpose As decentralized finance (DeFi) has collected substantial promotion, investment and cryptographic development as a new model for numerous financial operations over the last months. As DeFi models and technology are quite unique, authorities have not been engaged much yet. However, these non-regulated financial markets will be overlooked for no long by the regulators. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the new challenges for financial crime compliance which need to be tackled very soon. Design/methodology/approach The research relied on secondary sources of data, using secondary research to collect archival data in the form of documents. Content and thematic analyses were used to synthesize the collected data Findings DeFi is considered to be one of the major steps towards adopting crypto masses. It is expected that DeFi will play a significant role in future and provide the present banking system with a feasible alternative. Therefore, it is crucial that the DeFi industry must address the main risks to ensure its “user” full compliance. Originality/value This research is the first to analyse the emerging challenges of fighting financial crime in the DeFi ecosystem.

What Are the Merits of Taking a Hybrid Regulatory Approach Toward the Enforcement of Corporate Financial Crime in the United Kingdom and United States of America?

This article focuses on the hybrid regulatory approaches used in both the USA and the UK for the enforcement of corporate financial crime. In particular, the article analyses the use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements, which typically impose a financial penalty and behavioral commitments on a corporate entity for a defined period of time in exchange for the deferral of a criminal prosecution. The article will examine the merits of the use of DPAs instead of the imposition of criminal penalties on a company. The article will also consider whether a hybrid use of competition law as well as, or instead of, financial regulation could achieve better outcomes for regulators when enforcing financial crime.

Justificatory Narratives: The Collapse of Greensill Capital

The collapse of Greensill Capital, a company whose self-styled owner experimented with innovative supply-chain finance, led to parliamentary inquiries in the UK during the course of 2021. This paper tells the story of the collapse and analyses the justifications mobilised by the company’s owner, Lex Greensill, in defence of his acts. His exculpatory narratives contain classical components that characterise white-collar and financial crime, but also some innovative aspects that may prefigure the future development of these types of crimes.

Modern indicators of financial crimes detection and their prevention in Ukraine

The increase in the level of financial crime is caused by the technological development, weak moni-toring of financial institutions, low level of international cooperation in terms of combating these types of crimes. The paper aims to develop effective ways to combat financial crimes in Ukraine. With the help of a systematic analysis of financial crime modern indicators, theoretical sources, prac-tical measures and international experience, the main indicators of financial crimes are identified. Such indicators are the use of false documents and other people's accounts, international payment systems; frequent and complex financial transactions of a confusing nature; unusual for a client amounts and counterparties of the transaction; incomplete or missing payment information. The study has found that the increase in the level of financial crime is influenced by the presence of off-shore zones, the low level of liability for the crime, the reluctance of financial institutions to interact with law enforcement agencies in regard to combating such crimes. It is possible to increase the level of financial crime counteraction by conducting an external audit and investigation of financial crimes, establishing international cooperation to combat such crimes, blocking suspicious financial transactions, taking preventive measures and combating related crimes.

Electricity Power, Democratic Governance and Economic Growth: Evidence from Nigeria

The study examines the impact of democratic governance and corruption on electricity power supply in Nigeria. To achieve this goal, an integrated regression analysis such as Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), Fully Modified OLS, Canonical Cointegrating Regression and OLS were utilized to estimate data spanning the period of 1986 – 2020. The result revealed a negative and significant impact of democracy and corruption on electricity power generation in Nigeria. On the other hand, economic growth has shown a positive and important impact on electricity generation, suggesting that higher GDP growth will increase the supply of electricity in Nigeria. The implication of this findings are as follows: (i) one of the dividends of democracy which is providing public good to the citizens have not been achieved, as such, policymakers need to give more attention to the provision electricity supply; (ii) the institutions in charge of fighting corruption such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commissions (EFCC) need to be further strengthened in Nigeria.