Money Laundering Risks of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPS): Challenges and Solutions

دانشنامه حقوق اقتصادی

Volume 30, Issue 24, March 2024, Pages 1-18   

Document Type: Scientific research

DOI: 10.22067/economlaw.2024.84933.1321

Authors

Bagher Shamloo¹; Somaye Parhizkary^{* 2}

¹Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

²PhD Student in Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

As one of the main drivers of the economy, Non-Financial Businesses and Professions play an undeniable role in promoting financial and economic activities. However, the existence of some inherent features such as the breadth of activity and the lack of transparency in financial exchanges and transactions of some types of these businesses have caused them to become a cover and platform for committing crimes, especially money laundering. This, along with the governments' lack of correct and comprehensive understanding of the risk of committing crimes in these jobs, has turned them into an important challenge that requires attention at the legislative and structural levels. In this regard and considering the importance of taking effective measures to reduce the risks of this category of businesses, the Financial Action Task Force, as a transnational group, while identifying the types of Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, extended the anti-money laundering requirements to this category and asked governments to include preventive and countermeasures of the anti-money laundering system in their country. Undoubtedly, success in this matter requires the removal of legislative obstacles and also the improvement of governments at the structural level in order to implement the requirements. Thus, in this article, with a descriptive and analytical method and relying on reliable sources, the risks of money laundering in non-financial businesses will be examined and the challenges and solutions to solve them will be analyzed in the light of the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force. The results of the research show that the ineffectiveness of the laws in the field of Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and the non-compliance of its trustees with the risk-based approach have brought challenges in the implementation of anti-money laundering requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate Non-Financial Businesses and Professions and apply a risk-based approach in the implementation of regulations, through training to the custodians of this field. Also, creating an infrastructure based on new technologies, in a way that provides the basis for the effective implementation of requirements, appropriate to the nature of Non-Financial Businesses and Professions, will be effective in reducing the risk of money laundering.

Keywords

Non-Financial Businesses and Professions; money laundering; Financial Action Task Force; money laundering risk; regulation

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