Cross-Border Sanctions & AML: Geo-Financial Risk, US$ Dominance, Extra-Territoriality

The post-9/11, post-Global Financial Crisis world has seen a marked increase in the presence and role of the US as extra-territorial, cross-border enforcer of global stature. Critically, this US policy dominance has harnessed the weaponisation of the pre-eminent US dollar and access to the world’s largest economy as leverage and suasion when enforcing its policy goals.Set against a world of increasing global transactions, in a backdrop of heightened geo-political complexity and cross-border trade tension, and widespread international financial crime, the US has established itself as the global enforcer to be reckoned with. Iain Stewart unveils the way that this has been achieved, in stark contrast to the comparatively ineffective efforts of the EU and UN, from a sanctions and anti-money laundering perspective.