THE CONCEPT OF "LAUNDERING" (LE-GALIZATION) OF INCOME: ESSENTIAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS

The article shows how the concept of "mon-ey laundering" has developed and its defini-tion has expanded over time. The following research methods were used in the article: analysis of modern scientific literature by Russian and foreign authors, focused on the aspect of money laundering crimes in the international AML regime in accordance with the United Nations conventions (Vienna, Pa-lermo and the Convention on Corruption) and the standards of the Group devel-opment of financial measures to combat money laundering. The purpose of this study is to study the essential and legal aspects of financial moni-toring. 22 scientific articles and 6 legal acts in the field of combating money laundering and terrorist financing were analyzed. The study defines the stages of combating money laundering: placement, layering, inte-gration. It is concluded that in order to combat mon-ey laundering, institutions have to constantly tighten their internal organizational process-es, and for this, increasingly effective AML programs should be developed to register and promptly inform about potential risks to their financial systems, while an effective AML program should include the following: procedures customer due diligence; a dedi-cated AML Compliance Officer must be available; internal operations and current transaction monitoring processes, pro-cessing policies; continuous monitoring and verification of customer transactions in order to identify any illegal activities.