The purpose of this typology is to determine the degree to which legal professionals globally are vulnerable for ML/TF risks in light of the specific legal services they provide, and to describe red flag indicators of ML/TF which may be useful to legal professionals, self-regulatory bodies (SRBs), competent authorities and law enforcement agencies.
This typology report does not offer guidance or policy recommendations, nor can it serve as a “one-size-fits-all” educational tool for individual legal professionals practicing in different settings, across countries with varying supervisory regimes and secrecy, privilege and confidentiality rules.
The report concludes that criminals seek out the involvement of legal professionals in their ML/TF activities, sometimes because a legal professional is required to complete certain transactions, and sometimes to access specialised legal and notarial skills and services which could assist the laundering of the proceeds of crime and the funding of terrorism.