Anti-Money Laundering and
Countering the Financing of Terrorism

Methods of money laundering

There are many ways to launder money, some of which are sophisticated and complicated. The most common examples include:

• "Smurfing" (or structuring): depositing cash at various institutions in amounts less that the amount that must be reported to government, and subsequently transferring them to a central account.
• Currency smuggling: moving funds across borders to disguise their source and ownership by mail, courier or body packing (often to countries with strict bank secrecy laws).
• Exchanging transactions: buying foreign currency that can be transferred to offshore banks.
• Purchasing assets with bulk cash: purchasing cars, boats and real estate in someone else’s name then selling them and depositing the funds.
• Gambling: buying gambling chips and after placing a few bets, redeeming the chips for a casino cheque.

Effective anti-money laundering laws make it easier to detect and investigate money laundering activities by establishing links between criminal activity and the funds generated from that activity.