Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697637901126.pdf (Australia)
Secretary Re the inquiry into the adequacy and efficacy of Australia’s anti- money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regime.

Re term of reference (i) I fairly recently asked Austrac where they consider money to be located, because it, at least legal money, now largely exists as an electronic “blip on a chip”.
Is it located at the physical address of a bank or financial institution, even though that may be nothing more than an office behind a brass plate on a building, is it located at the physical address of an “associate bank”, eg.

an Australian bank holding records of a bank in the Cook Islands, or is located wherever the server is which contains the blip on a chip?

It seems to be important to consider this when we say money has been transferred.
Is it where the blip is physically, or is it deemed to be somewhere else, such as a jurisdiction with secrecy or low tax?

Eg.

Is the money transferred from Australia considered to be in the US where a server might be housed, or is it considered to be in say, the Seychelles?

Thank you Geoff Taylor, Perth The adequacy and efficacy of Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regimeSubmission 47