Lawyers and Money Laundering

While the duty of lawyers representing financial institutions in the U.S. is almost solely toward their clients, in the EU, lawyers have affirmative obligations to report suspected money-laundering activity to government authorities. In other words, lawyers may be involuntarily conscripted as enforcement agents or 'gatekeepers' at the institutions they represent. American lawyers in the European offices of U.S.-based 'international' law firms are not exempt.

20 minute readMay 27, 2008 at 09:52 AM
By
Howard W. Goldstein
Lawyers and Money Laundering

As anti-money laundering enforcement has become an international priority, financial institutions around the world increasingly rely on lawyers to help them navigate stringent anti-money laundering regulations enforced by criminal penalties.

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