Luxembourg named a model in fight against money laundering

The World Bank has issued a guide for banking regulators. In it, Luxembourg is listed as an example in terms of administrative sanctions.

Luxembourg is mentioned in this manual for a reason. The Grand Duchy actively practices the «name and shame» method. In other words, there are always public sanctions against financial institutions that directly assist money laundering or even neglect the means of combating it.

It’s worth saying that the banking community holds no unanimous opinion about this practice. Publicizing violations causes almost irreparable reputation damage. It’s almost impossible for a regulator on the list to attract new clients or refinance its own projects.

However, even in Luxembourg, sanctions lists are sometimes not published immediately after the sanctions themselves. The reason for this is the state’s reluctance to jeopardize institutions in an era of financial and energy crises.