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Japan Lags in Complex Money Laundering Cases

By Daniel Bethencourt

Japanese investigators rarely pursue cases into complex, cross-border schemes by attorneys and other third parties to conceal illicit proceeds for others, focusing instead on straightforward attempts by criminals to launder their own profits, an intergovernmental group has found. Given that Japan boasts the world's third-largest economy and "one of the largest and most sophisticated financial systems" globally, the lack of investigations poses serious risks, the Financial Action Task Force and its regional affiliate, the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering, concluded Monday after evaluating the country in October and November 2019. FATF noted in a 292-page report on the evaluation that...

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