Introduction
In this essay on the new money laundering law, we will begin by giving an overview of the background to how money laundering started in our time, where the origin of that term "money laundering" comes from. The first legal background, what were the first laws that were issued to try to control this action and how it was criminalized.
We will talk about the concept of "money laundering" as this crime occurs in Mexico, the institutions in charge of persecuting it and some recent cases of this crime carried out by high officials and people who give politics in our country.
We will give a broad overview of the new guidelines and obligations, dictated by this new law, which must be followed by government agencies and the private sector.
We will mention some mechanisms that crime uses to carry out this crime, the illegal activities where the constitution of this crime can take place, and we will mention some business sectors that would be affected by this new law.
We will analyze some government statistics of operations that this law refers to as “vulnerable” and how the definition defines this in the legal framework.
And in general a personal conclusion about the scope that this new law can have in the trade and investment sectors and its effectiveness of application.
New regulation for the federal law for the prevention and identification of operations with resources of illicit origin
Background
Generally, the beginning of the phenomenon known as money laundering is located in the seventies, along with the development and lucrative increase of massive drug markets, but authors such as Córdoba Gutiérrez and Palencia Escalante, point out that the commission of this crime dates from In the twenties, we are told that the first laundered capitals occurred in the United States, at the time of the gangster and the so-called dry law. In Chicago in the 1920s, a group of criminals with businesses in alcohol, gambling, prostitution, and other illicit activities are said to have bought a chain of laundries and at the end of each day pooled the illicit profits from the other businesses, being jointly justified as obtained in legal activities.
Thus, the origin of the term "money laundering" dates back to the time of the American gangster Meyer Lanski, well known at the time of the prohibition, who at that time created in New York a chain of 2 laundries that were used to launder the funds from illegal casinos. It was enough to put amounts (Córdova Gutiérrez Alberto and Palencia Escalante, 2001) of money in the laundries; for these funds to enter the banking circle.
The first legal antecedent is found in the United States' Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which imposed on financial institutions obligations to maintain certain operations and report them to the authorities, however this law was ineffective, since it was precisely the obligation to report possible illicit operations that was established, in such a way that money launderers could continue to carry out their activities without the risk of receiving a sanction.
Faced with such a scenario, in 1986, the United States Congress issued the so-called “Money Laundering Control Law”. Which typified this crime, sanctioning it with a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Through this law, this activity was federalized, the confiscation of profits obtained by the launderers was authorized, and additional tools were provided to the authorities to investigate money laundering.
Money laundering concept
The concept of money laundering is that of "adjusting to tax legality the money from criminal or unjustifiable businesses." It consists of the activity by which a criminal person or organization processes financial profits, resulting from illegal activities to try to give them the appearance of resources obtained from illegal activities. (Figueroa Velázquez, 2002)
In Mexico, each year between 19 and 39 billion dollars are laundered or laundered from organized crime organizations, according to the security consultancy Stratford, most of the money comes from the United States, to clarify any crime, frequent advice Among the world's police investigators is: follow the money. And that is what the Mexican government intends to do from now on.
On Wednesday, August 17, a new law to combat money laundering came into effect, which seeks to attack profits not only from organized crime cartels, but also from illegal activities of public officials and some companies.
Beyond the figures in Mexico, as in other countries, there are various mechanisms for laundering money and not all of them are related to drug trafficking, slavery, kidnapping or extortion, specialists warn.
The attorney general's office of the republic (PGR) has detected money laundering in the sale of prepaid cards for phone calls, currency exchange, gambling in casinos, renting air taxis, restaurants and also in the purchase of cars, mansions, works of art and jewelry.
Several former mayors and governors are currently under investigation and are accused of using fiscal resources to their advantage. Legally this is also considered money laundering.
"There are serious investigations of people who divert public resources and use them, knowing that they know they come from improper situations", the most recent cases in Mexico are that of teacher Elba Esther Gordillo, former leader of the teachers union, and Andrés Granier, former governor of tabasco. They are both detained and in judicial process.
Seeing this panorama some doubt about the effectiveness of the new law to combat money laundering.
The legislation, called the federal law for the prevention and identification of illicit resources, prohibits cash operations that are greater than US $ 40,000. This law especially regulates the economic sectors that are vulnerable to money laundering, that is, the trade in automobile jewels, and works of art. This legislation is part of Mexico's commitments to the international financial action group (gafi), an organization formed by several countries and dedicated to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Where the law obliges individuals and businesses to report to the authorities any financial operation considered “unusual”, that is, that it exceeds the legal limit of US $ 40,000, regardless of whether it is carried out with cash.
The problem is that these kinds of transactions are common in Mexico. "For example, the entire agricultural sector works with cash," and this does not mean that it is illicit money. What seems foreseeable is that notices of unusual operations will increase in a short time, information that can hardly be translated into investigations of money laundering. money.
To give us an idea of the aforementioned, according to the financial intelligence unit of the Ministry of Finance, in the first quarter of the year, reports of 1.5 million money transactions were received, and of these 16,000 reports of operations ” unusual. "
But of this universe of operations, there were only six reports of “worrying” operations, that is, with indications that it could be money laundering.
On the other hand, in Mexico, the crime of money laundering is identified as "operations with recourse of illicit origin", and this crime, in accordance with the federal penal code, article 400 bis, will occur when the perpetrator or by interposita person perform any of the following behaviors:
“Acquire, dispose, administer, custody, deposit, guarantee, invest, transport or transfer, within the national territory, from abroad to the foreigner or vice versa, resources, rights or goods of any nature, with knowledge that they come from or represent the product of an illegal activity, with any of the following purposes; hide or pretend to hide, cover up or prevent knowing the origin, location, destination or property of said resources, rights or assets, or encourage any illegal activity. "
On the process by which the commission of the crime of money laundering is carried out, it has been established that whatever the agent who uses money laundering or whatever the labyrinths he uses, the operational principles are basically the themselves.
Likewise, we realize that the fundamental object of this new law is:
Object:
- Prevent and detect acts or operations that involve illicit resources and those that tend to finance terrorism. A system of identification and reporting for acts or operations related to vulnerable activities is proposed.
Therefore, whoever performs vulnerable acts.
They have the following obligations:
- Identify the client. The business or activity relationship, requesting RFC. If he has knowledge of the beneficiary. To guard, protect, safeguard, and avoid the destruction of the information, as well as that which identifies the client.
In conclusion we can say the following:
That unfortunately, this new law includes a series of measures that could indirectly stop foreign investment in Mexico, since the new controls instituted, necessarily, will require the creation of bureaucratic processes that can delay, hinder and discourage the opening of new companies and the arrival of foreign capital and generally slowing down new business transactions.
The proponents of this law may argue that this law focuses mainly on transactions made with cash, but it is indisputable that the new regulations will have an impact in all commercial and financial areas.
Also organized crime can find new methods of operation to manage their income. Among these possible new methods are: operating below the maximum amounts of money allowed by law; the diversification and investment of capital in goods and industries not specified in the law; and the use of more figureheads to reduce investment amounts.
One of the most effective mechanisms to protect the formal economy from money laundering operations is customer knowledge, however, too strict information requirements in transactions as simple as buying a car or a luxury watch, will bring risks to the security of customers, by providing personal and financial information to individuals.
In conclusion, by passing this law in accordance with international standards, the Mexican government also takes on the challenge of demonstrating to the international community the capacity and will to fight against organized crime and reaffirming the idea that Mexico can continue to be an attractive country for foreign investment.
This requires working for the effective implementation of the new regulations, and for the federal executive to face a problem that has escaped his control and that requires immediate remedies.
References:
- Córdova Gutiérrez Alberto and Palencia Escalante Carlos.- money laundering; economic distortions and social implications., (2001) Figueroa Velázquez, Rogelio miguel. Mexican Legal Encyclopedia, (2002).
