Is the European Union Doing Everything It Can to Force the Banks and the Financial Institutions to Comply With the Law?

This paper makes a contribution to research on the European anti-money laundering law by analyzing the manner in which the anti-money laundering legal regime in Europe. Such regulations are not implemented with the same rigor throughout the entire European Union and that this anti-money laundering mechanism is only as strong as its implementation in the weakest Member State. It also discusses the fines imposed the governmental authorities on the banks and financial institutions for their failure to apply the anti-money laundering rules and directives and concludes that as presently implemented such fines are not having the intended effects, but resulting in the affected institutions creating reserves to pay for such fines as if it were another cost of doing business. Lastly, the paper recommends measures which the EU can use to strengthen the anti-money laundering mechanism such as increasing substantially the fines imposed on banks and financial institutions which fail to implement the regulations.