KYC360º FAQ

How is the offence of money laundering committed?

Money laundering offences are essentially the same in different jurisdictions. There are two key elements to any money laundering offence:

• The necessary act of laundering itself; and
• A requisite degree of knowledge or suspicion (either subjective or objective)

The act of laundering is committed in circumstances where a person is engaged in an arrangement with another person involving the proceeds of crime. Such arrangements are rarely defined and include a wide variety of arrangements including those for the provision of financial services, such as normal banker customer relationship, or the sale of property or other tangible or intangible assets, for example by a jeweller or art dealer.

The requisite degree of knowledge or suspicion will depend upon the specific offence but will usually be present where the person providing the arrangement, service or product knows, suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the funds involved in the arrangement represent the proceeds of crime. In some cases the offence may also be committed where a person knows or suspects that the person with whom he or she is dealing is engaged in or has benefited from criminal conduct.