The paper studies money laundering techniques and the involvement of offshore centres, both for legal purposes (like tax avoidance) and for illegal purposes (like tax evasion and money laundering). It shows how much money is laundered and where. It gives an overview over anti-money laundering policies in the EU Member States and gives policy advice on how to reduce tax evasion and money laundering. For Europe, creating more transparency seems very important. This includes a harmonized way of how to identify national and sectoral money laundering risks; central bank registers; and central registers for identifying ultimate beneficial owners. As has been shown, European offshore centres are still the most important ones. So rather than focusing on small islands overseas, these loopholes in the anti-money laundering chain should be closed.
Offshore activities and moneylaundering: recent findings and challenges