The Advancement of and Impact of Global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Regulations: An Era of 10 years of Research Themes, Trends, and Future Directions (2014 to 2024)
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Abstract
Background: The global community has stepped up its war against financial crime over the last ten years, putting the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regimes at the forefront of its agenda to protect transnational financial systems. The emergence of digital finance, the explosion of cryptocurrencies, and high-profile scandals, like the Panama Papers and the Danske Bank case, have shown that there are serious regulatory weaknesses. Even though the academic interest in this field has been growing exponentially, no synthesis has been made to trace how the field has evolved during this time.
Methods: The paper is a systematic synthesis of AML and CFT studies published within the decade 2014–2024 that will help to outline key themes, trace intellectual patterns, and reveal the new issues. We conducted a comprehensive search in the Scopus and Web of Science databases by following the PRISMA guidelines. Following the strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 132 peer-reviewed articles were identified to be analysed. Publication patterns, research networks, and thematic clusters were studied with the help of bibliometric methods and thematic analysis, and VOSviewer was used to visualize the data.
Findings: There was a consistent positive trend in publication activity, which surged significantly after 2018. There were four thematic clusters, including (1) global governance and harmonisation, (2) technological disruption and digital finance, (3) cross-border crime and illicit finance, and (4) policy effectiveness and economic impact. The results indicate a distinct change in early descriptive research that emphasised on standard-setting to modern research that incorporates technology, policy, and socio-economic factors.
Conclusion: The review is the initial ten-year overview of the literature on AML and CFT. It highlights the need to have adaptive and context sensitive regulatory policies that create a balance between innovation, enforcement and financial inclusion. The research provides a research and policy agenda on future research and policy formulation thus enhancing the global AML/CFT regime.