Bazel institute on governance published ranking of countries where there are most of all possibilities for money laundering and terrorism financing. Every of 149 countries presented in ranking was given certain points from 0 (total lack of possibilities) to 10 (the widest spectrum).
Top-10 list with the most convenient jurisdictions for money laundering is quite expectable. They are the following:
1. Afghanistan (8,55)
2. Iran (8,48)
3. Cambodia (8,35)
4. Tadjikistan (8,27)
5. Irak (8,19)
6. Guinea-Bissau (8,17)
7. Haiti (8,09)
8. Mali (7,95)
9. Svaziland (7,9)
10. Mozambique (7,9)
These countries in accordance with version of research’s authors are the most vulnerable from the viewpoint of money laundering and financing terrorism but not necessarily because of the fact that exactly in these countries money laundering occurs more often than in other countries.
List of jurisdictions where money laundering is more difficult to commit is the following
1. Norway (3,17)
2. Slovenia (3,3)
3. Estonia (3,31)
4. Finland (3,74)
5. Sweden (3,75)
6. Lithuania (3,81)
7. Malta (4,01)
8. New Zealand (4,01)
9. Hungary (4,07)
10. Bulgaria (4,13)
Armenia is on the 118th place with 4,9 points between Singapore and United Kingdom which is one of the best results comparing with countries of former USSR.
This ranking shows comparative risk of use of country for money laundering and financing terrorism – i.e. vulnerability of country to such activities but not the real activity of criminals. Therefore strong legislation of countries-members of list may be graded by weak enforcement and vice versa.
