# History of Anti-Money Laundering Measures

Money-Laundering activities, which hide the source or attribution of criminal proceeds is a highly covert activity, which is extremely difficult to detect.

The international society has been enhancing and developing systems to prevent and detect money laundering, as well as cooperating with each other to deal with this issue. Japan is also reinforcing anti-money laundering measures in line with international initiatives. Various activities centered on the police described in this report have also delivered positive results through such international cooperation.

## Section1 Anti-Money Laundering Measures in International Society

## 1 Anti-Money Laundering Measures as International Countermeasures against Narcotic Drugs

In the 1980s, the global spread of narcotics abuse was taken as a crisis in the international society. One of the main causes was the existence of transnational drug-trafficking organizations linking production of narcotics to the consumption of them. It was recognized as important to inflict damage on the source of their funds, by all measures, such as confiscating illegal proceeds from drug manufacturing and trafficking and effectively preventing their money laundering activities. In this context, "the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances" (hereinafter referred to as "UN New Narcotics Convention") was adopted in December 1988 and required each state to criminalize activities such as hiding drug crime proceeds and to establish relevant regulations to confiscate such proceeds, which made clear an internationally consistent effort.

In addition, at the Arch Summit in July 1989, the major developed countries decided to establish the FATF to take concerted actions for anti-money laundering. In April 1990, urged by the need for standardizing measures in different countries, the FATF proposed "The 40 Recommendations", as standards for anti-money laundering measures to be applied in the fields of law enforcement, criminal justice, and the financial system. "The 40 Recommendations" required early ratification of "the UN New Narcotics Convention", development of domestic laws stipulating anti-money laundering measures, and establishment of measures such as obligations to conduct customer identification and the report of suspicious transactions by financial institutions.

## 2 Anti-Money Laundering Measures as Countermeasures against International Organized Crime and Terrorism

In the 1990s, the international expansion of organized crime was recognized as a phenomenon which could threaten each country's security, and therefore an international convention against international organized crimes was considered mainly by the United Nations. At the Halifax Summit in June 1995, it was pointed out that effective measures to prevent the hiding of proceeds not only from drug-trafficking but also from serious crimes were necessary for successful countermeasures against transnational organized crimes. In accordance with these movements, the FATF revised, in June 1996, a part of “The 40 Recommendations,” and recommended that the scope of predicate offences be extended from drug crimes to serious crimes.