Anguilla is in the process of strengthening its legal and supervisory framework, which includes the creation of an operationally independent regulatory body, the Financial Services Commission. Priority should be given to improving the system for suspicious transaction reports, enhancing the...

Singapore’s financial sector, which is dominated by the banking sector, remains robust despite a series of economic downturns and substantial asset price declines. Economic developments in the past few years have highlighted Singapore’s vulnerability to exogenous shocks, including...

This paper assesses countries' compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) international standard during the period 2004 to 2011. We find that overall compliance is low; there is an adverse impact on financial transparency created by the...

This paper finds that law enforcement interventions during the Mexican Drug War (MDW) hindered local export growth. We leverage exogenous variation in drug enforcement from the close election of mayors affiliated with the national ruling party during the MDW. Firms servicing the same markets but...

We show that the recent rise in Afghan opium production is caused by violent conflicts. Violence destroys roads and irrigation, crucial to alternative crops, and weakens local incentives to rebuild infrastructure and enforce law and order. Exploiting a unique data set, we show that Western...

This report assesses the Observance of Standards and Codes on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in Chile. Banking secrecy provisions continue to limit the ability of Chile to investigate and...

This paper presents key findings of the Detailed Assessment of the Observance of Standards and Codes in the Financial Sector of Bermuda. The small number of licensed deposit-taking institutions in Bermuda are part of the broader financial intermediation sector. Typically, some 50 percent to 60...

This report on the Observance of Standards and Codes reviews Luxembourg’s observance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) 40 Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and eight Special Recommendations on Combating the Financing of Terrorism. The assessment reveals that Luxembourg has...

This report evaluates the Observance of Standards and Codes on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) for New Zealand (NZ). The assessment reveals that since its last evaluation in 1998, NZ has made few...

This report assesses the Observance of Standards and Codes on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) for Mexico. The report highlights that Mexico has removed specific exemptions to customer...