EXTRATERRITORIAL PROSECUTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING. INTERNATIONAL, SUPRANATIONAL AND EU OPTIONS

In the recent years the prosecution of money laundering has become one of the most relevant topics in Criminal Law. The seriousness of the predicate offenses and its connection with the financing of the international terrorism have led to the adoption of extensive International, European and EU regulations to harmonize the elements of the criminal offense of money laundering. The international treaties and conventions on money laundering provide the same extraterritorial prosecution options for that crime and for the vast list of predicate offenses such as drug trafficking, corruption, and organized crime. However, the implementation by the States Party has shown that regarding money laundering, national lawmakers use almost exclusively territoriality and active personality as jurisdictional criteria to prosecute the crime. As far as EU Law is concerned, the sixth Directive on money laundering (6AMLD), approved via art. 83.3 TFEU, establishes criteria for the extraterritorial prosecution of the offence. Its effectiveness in prosecuting money laundering within the EU framework will depend on the transposition of the obligations by the Member States.