The bankers' blacklist: unofficial market enforcement and the global fight against illicit financing

Introduction: cross-border banking in a globalized era -- A primer on international financial standards on illicit financing -- A theory of unofficial market enforcement -- The FATF's fight against illicit financing -- How the noncomplier list drives FATF compliance -- Unofficial market enforcement against listed countries -- Fighting illicit financing in Southeast Asia -- Conclusion: the power and peril of markets as enforcers.

Morse demonstrates how the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has enlisted global banks in the effort to keep 'bad money' out of the financial system, in the process drastically altering the domestic policy landscape and transforming banking worldwide. Trillions of dollars flow across borders through the banking system every day. While bank-to-bank transfers facilitate trade and investment, they also provide opportunities for criminals and terrorists to move money around the globe. To address this vulnerability, large economies work together through an international standard-setting body, the FATF, to shift laws and regulations on combating illicit financial flows. Morse examines how this international organisation has achieved such impact, arguing that it relies on the power of unofficial market enforcement.

"In recent years, international regulation has caused big banks to cut thousands of cross-border relationships with overseas banks. Domestic banks in those countries cannot afford to be cut off from global financial markets and so become advocates for more regulation. A 39-member intergovernmental body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has enlisted cross-border banks to keep 'bad money' out of the financial system"--