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  • From Crime Prevention to Norm Compliance: Anti-Money Laundering (Aml) Policy Adoption in Singapore from 1989–2021

From Crime Prevention to Norm Compliance: Anti-Money Laundering (Aml) Policy Adoption in Singapore from 1989–2021

Year of Publication: 2023
Month of Publication: 1
Author(s): Rishik Elias MENON
Research Area(s): Banking and Finance Law
Name of Working Paper Series:

NUS Law Working Paper No. 2023/004

NUS Centre for Banking & Finance Law Working Paper 23/01

WPS Paper Number: LAW-WPS-2304
Abstract:

Policy mobility scholarship concerning Anti-Money Laundering (AML) has typically favoured the study of power structures and interests to the neglect of the constructivist perspective and the local cultural-symbolic driving forces of policy adoption. This article seeks to redress this, by analysing the shifting ideational drivers of AML Policy in Singapore over the last 31 years through a thematic analysis of Singapore’s parliamentary debates (Hansard). Through a thematic analysis of Singapore's hansard over the last 31 years, this article seeks to present a social constructivist perspective of AML policy adoption in Singapore. The thematic analysis reveals how the internal driving forces of AML policy in Singapore has shifted, from the idea of “crime prevention” in the early 1990s, to the symbolic value of “international norm compliance” by the 2010s. This constructivist perspective of AML policy adoption is particularly useful in complementing the existing materialist theories of AML policy diffusion, and allows us to better appreciate the historical nuances of AML policy transfer across the globe. This research will provide a useful comparative case study for other policy mobility scholars interested in presenting a constructivist account of AML policy adoption in different jurisdictions. There is no literature in the field of policy mobility, explaining the diffusion/transfer of AML policy from a social constructivist perspective.

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