THE MYTH OF UNIVERSALITY: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE GLOBAL AML FRAMEWORK AND ITS APPLICATION IN LDCS

Abstract

The Financial Action Task Force leads worldwide Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism standards which are considered effective against criminal money movements across nations. The worldwide standards of AML/CFT regulation work as though they can apply equally everywhere but this standard overlooks major differences among nations when it comes to their ability to set rules and handle legal matters especially in developing countries. This research thoroughly examines how the worldwide Anti-Money Laundering system operates in developing countries by both analyzing its basic principles and comparing how different nations put it into practice. The analysis relies on academic literature and FATF and World Bank data from AML evaluations to determine how Uganda, Pakistan and other sub-Saharan countries apply international AML rules. The study assumes that importing laws without understanding their local settings creates fake adherence yet fails to produce actual enforcement. The examined nations show poor AML control implementation after joining standards to prevent blacklisting but still needing donor conditions to run crime fighting structures. We must create specialized mode of regulation that involves political economy and develops local institutions because current methods produce poor results. The research shows different international AML systems need individual authority changes and shared standard building to get stronger support and better performance across all member countries.

Keywords: Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Compliance Effectiveness, Legal Transplants, Institutional Capacity

Introduction