{"title":"Sanctions compliance as a basis for non-performance of contractual obligations","authors":"Cayle Lupton","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Targeted financial sanctions are routinely used to combat financial crime. As they are endorsed by the United Nations and the Financial Action Task Force, the vast majority of jurisdictions have established regulatory frameworks that make provision for targeted financial sanctions. These frameworks translate into compliance obligations and expectations for so-called regulated entities, which includes banks. Although sanctions have been the subject of much discourse recently in the wake of the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the risk of non-performance of contractual obligations due to sanctions compliance has not been explored sufficiently. The objective of this contribution is to shed light on the distinction between compliance with domestic sanctions and compliance with foreign sanctions with specific reference to the risk of non-performance of contractual obligations. It focuses on the basis and legal implications of compliance in each case within the context of the bank-customer relationship. This is undertaken primarily from a South African perspective. The contribution finds that compliance with domestic sanctions may give rise to an interference with contractual performance that is rooted in law, while compliance with foreign sanctions may necessitate an interference that is based on either a contractual provision (force majeure clause) or business and reputational considerations. In both instances, clients of banks are less certain that their payment instructions will be processed and banks, in turn, run the risk of being sued. This tension between sanctions and international banking and finance requires serious reflection by the relevant authorities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142359417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mapping the trends of Financial Statement Fraud detection research from the historical roots and seminal work","authors":"Beemamol M","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research aims to identify the historical roots of Financial Statement Fraud (FSF) detection research and ascertain the trajectory of current and upcoming research in this field. This study conducted descriptive, reference spectroscopy, and scientific mapping analyses. To unearth the historical foundations of FSF detection research, the study employed the “Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)” technique. The study chose publications from 1989 to 2022 and identified a slow initial publication pace from 1989, followed by a surge in 2003, aligned with global accounting fraud scandals. Through RPYS, it identified 24 seminal research works (from 1881 to 2022) across multiple disciplines (mathematics, psychology, criminology, sociology, economics, finance, accounting, auditing, data analytics and machine learning) that contributed to the development of the FSF detection research. The trend of FSF research shifted from “financial reporting” to “machine learning”, which underscores the necessity for researchers, organizations, and policymakers to integrate emerging technologies like machine learning and data analytics and promote interdisciplinary and international cooperation to enhance the detection of FSF.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100096"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142328160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the effectiveness of the civil regime's penalty-setting framework against insider dealing in the UK","authors":"Rustam Mirrakhimov","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper carries out a first-of-its-kind evaluation of the effectiveness of insider dealing policy in the UK focusing on the civil regime's penalty-setting framework against individuals. Under the assumption that there is a risk of underestimating illegal benefits from insider dealing for the purposes of a penalty determination, and due to the ambiguous punitive nature of disgorgement, the paper puts forward a novel two-step algorithm for inferring a deterrent effect from a civil financial sanction. It is found that in around half of the included cases deterrence is undermined. Hence the implementation of the policy may have been ineffective.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100095"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000472/pdfft?md5=e0808cb05c272e943aeaf1eb6db54b64&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000472-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142271905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Controlling embezzlement in Kuwait through situational crime prevention","authors":"Khaled S. Al-Rashidi","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100094","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100094","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The literature on the causes of corruption has been preoccupied with the corrupt individual or the socio-political and economic contexts in which corruption occurs. This has resulted in macro-level counter-corruption approaches that focus on the root causes of corruption. In the last few decades, however, new Western criminological theories and approaches have been developing. Environmental criminology – and its family of theories – is one example of theories that provide a different perspective on crime prevention by focusing on the crime rather than the criminal. In this context, situational crime prevention (as part of environmental criminology) brings in micro-level preventive techniques, such as the immediate manipulation of the criminogenic situations, rather than focusing on the distant causes of crime. The Western literature on criminology abounds in successful experiences of the ability of situational crime prevention to prevent several types of crime, including white-collar crime. In the Arab world, nevertheless, there is a dearth of studies, if any, that apply situational crime prevention in terms of crime prevention. This paper furthers another area of research where it has been argued that criminology in the Arab world is still dominated by modern criminology theories where the individual criminal is the centre of attention. As a result, environmental criminology has notably been absent in the Arab criminological discourse. Taking Kuwait as an example of an Arab country, and embezzlement as a unit of analysis, this paper argues that situational crime prevention is also a promising crime prevention approach in the Arab world.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"6 ","pages":"Article 100094"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000460/pdfft?md5=c15616e2871d4d0a609a27f3d7c1e842&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000460-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142230375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Knowing is half the battle: Examining the association between acknowledgement of victimization and reporting of fraud","authors":"Cooper A. Maher, Timothy A. Engle","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100092","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100092","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Reporting victimization to the police or one’s bank is a crucial step for victims of fraud, but many victims of fraud do not acknowledge their experiences as constituting victimization. The study examines whether acknowledgement influences odds of reporting fraud to police and banks. Findings from a sample from the 2017 National Crime Victimization Survey’s Supplemental Fraud Survey (n = 540) indicate that acknowledgement is positively associated with odds of reporting to police and banks, while other factors were differentially associated with reporting to police and banks. Findings are discussed in light of research and policy implications as well as limitations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100092"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000447/pdfft?md5=539ab3fe8cf8948d33a07756c0e11a8a&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000447-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142151739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Balancing privacy and public interest in the fight against illicit financial flows: Lessons from an European Case Study","authors":"T.R. van Roomen , B. de Jonge","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100093","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100093","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) – such as corruption and money laundering – have a significant negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights. Combating IFF is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. SDG 16 explicitly promulgates the relation between the rule of law, social security and the fight against IFF. Cross-border data access and exchange by enforcement authorities is crucial to map and disrupt IFF, punish suspects and take away their criminally earned assets. At the same time, human rights restrain national enforcement authorities when combatting IFF. States must abstain from undue interference with individuals’ privacy rights, such as the storage of information relating to an individual’s private life and the sharing of such information. Pursuant to article 8 ECHR, interference with the right to respect for private – in accordance with the law – is only permissible if this is necessary in a democratic society, e.g. in the interests of national security and public safety. In this article we explore the balance between individual rights and states’ responsibilities in the fight against IFF; between privacy and the common good of fighting bad money. To what extent may privacy concerns be an obstacle to investigate global IFF? Our conclusion is that there is an imbalance. We suggest that human dignity and human security should be given more weight in the balancing of human rights in this context.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100093"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000459/pdfft?md5=1b208fa4d208d646e3f972c0eff247ee&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000459-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142172000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modelling cybersecurity impacts on digital payment adoption: A game theoretic approach","authors":"Aya Aljaradat, Gargi Sarkar, Sandeep K. Shukla","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100089","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The pervasive adoption of digital payment systems globally is a crucial development, shaping the financial landscapes of diverse nations. However, this surge in adoption has precipitated a concerning rise in cybercrimes. This prompts users to reassess preferred payment modes and occasionally leads to a shift back to traditional cash transactions. Given the central role of digital payments in steering the digital economy’s growth and their profound impact on a country’s gross domestic product, the imperative to augment the number of digital payment users becomes increasingly compelling. In response to this imperative, this article introduces a game theoretical model to comprehend how digital payment service providers can ensure optimal security for their services and systems. The objective extends beyond merely addressing the escalating threat of cybercrime; it also seeks to cultivate a pervasive sense of safety among users. Simultaneously, it endeavours to dissuade cybercriminals from investing efforts in exploiting the robust security measures implemented by digital payment service providers. To validate the efficacy of our model, we employed a strategic approach. We have formulated four research questions using the problematization technique and leveraging a thorough examination of the existing literature. Subsequently, we systematically map the findings of our model, ensuring a nuanced alignment with the existing academic discourse. The article aims to have a widespread and significant impact by enhancing security and fundamentally influencing the trajectory of digital payment adoption, thereby contributing to the development of the digital economy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100089"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000411/pdfft?md5=2a5cbbe9d44782788f8063b217b6b90b&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000411-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142040950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of artificial intelligence in preventing corporate crime","authors":"Luis A. Garcia-Segura","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100091","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100091","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article explores the novel and transformative role AI plays in enhancing corporate compliance and monitoring to mitigate corporate crime. It delves into how AI technologies, through advanced data analysis and predictive analytics, are revolutionizing the detection and prevention of financial fraud, insider trading, and non-compliance with environmental regulations. The integration of AI into the financial sector is emphasized as pivotal for developing robust fraud prevention algorithms, which analyze vast data volumes to identify malicious activities and prevent financial losses. Moreover, the article probes into the ethical and privacy concerns surrounding the deployment of AI, highlighting the balance needed between efficient crime prevention and safeguarding individual privacy rights. Garcia-Segura's analysis also underscores the need for international cooperation and legal adaptation to uphold ethical standards in AI’s application, ensuring it promotes fairness and justice in combating corporate crime.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100091"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000435/pdfft?md5=f31022bd360757b35792fccc8663dd16&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000435-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142086967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The dishonest disposition and everyday economic criminality of the British public","authors":"David Shepherd, Mark Button, Chloe Hawkins","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100090","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100090","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper is concerned with the everyday economic crimes of ordinary people. Although dishonesty is a core characteristic of these offences, we are not aware of any prior research that examines the direct, relationship between dishonest attitude and economic crime. Based on a survey of the British public, this article presents insights into this relationship. By profiling the integrity, dishonest disposition and everyday economic criminality of the British public, the study finds a strong relationship between attitudes and harmful dishonest behaviour such that, in a given year, 26 % of adults in the UK commit at least one economic crime. The higher levels of dishonesty in males and younger adults helps to explain their more prolific offending. Both the honesty and age-economic crime curves indicate that the maturation decline in offending is gradual compared to the sharp desistance in early adulthood of the traditional age-crime curve. Whilst this finding also contradicts the conventional view that economic crime is a middle-aged problem, it helps to explain this perception. By comparing the attitude results to a 2011 study, the research further found that the maturation effect is more pronounced due to a decline in integrity of the under 55 y population so that the younger generations now have a steeper moral hill to climb.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100090"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791424000423/pdfft?md5=adbba09f7c3db067d5595a44d8ccd3a5&pid=1-s2.0-S2949791424000423-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141991133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Malta: The use of ambiguity for corruption and (mis)rule of law","authors":"Michela Scalpello","doi":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100088","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jeconc.2024.100088","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The strategic use of ambiguity is a well-known instrument used by those in power to the detriment of citizens. Malta is no exception. This paper explores the strategic use of ambiguity illustrating how in Malta, laws, regulations, and international conventions are frequently misinterpreted by those in power. It finds that concepts of ambiguity are commonplace on the island, similar to that used by the Sicilian Mafia organisation, the Cosa Nostra. Strategic ambiguity is used by those in power for their benefit to keep the corrupt status quo. The article concludes that such deception is intertwined in legal, criminal, and political systems. These findings contribute to the lack of criminological research on the island, aiming to increase the criminological landscape and studies, since it is only through research and education that positive changes in society occur.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":100775,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Criminology","volume":"5 ","pages":"Article 100088"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294979142400040X/pdfft?md5=851520bd6f767bd4642c99501942cdda&pid=1-s2.0-S294979142400040X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141851629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}