Comparative Study on Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and Cybersecurity in the Banking Sector: Based on Countries

List of Key Chapter Titles

1. Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
2. Cybersecurity Countermeasures
3. Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism, Cybersecurity, and International Organizations
4. Anti-Money Laundering and Cybersecurity in Banking: Challenges
5. U.S. Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Cybersecurity Laws
6. EU Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Cybersecurity Laws
7. German Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Cybersecurity Laws
8. Chinese Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Cybersecurity Laws
9. Anti-Money Laundering Compliance and Auditing
10. International and Regional Cooperation

Document Introduction

This report is a systematic comparative study of the legal and policy frameworks in three key regulatory areas—anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism, and cybersecurity—for the banking sectors of G20 member states. As the global financial system accelerates its digital transformation, money laundering, terrorist financing, and cybercrime are increasingly intertwined, posing severe challenges to financial stability and national security. The report aims, through exhaustive country-specific legal analysis, to reveal the regulatory convergences and divergences across different jurisdictions, providing a comprehensive reference benchmark for policymakers, compliance practitioners in financial institutions, and academic researchers.

The report first establishes the theoretical foundation of core concepts. Chapter One provides a detailed analysis of the definition of money laundering, the traditional three-stage cycle (placement, layering, integration), and introduces the main international organizational networks combating financial crime, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), among others. Chapter Two traces the historical evolution of cybersecurity, from its origins in early 20th-century cryptography to contemporary diverse types of cyberattacks (such as Denial-of-Service attacks, phishing, ransomware, etc.), and compares the fundamental differences between cybersecurity risks and traditional risks.

Building on this, the core section of the report conducts an in-depth country-specific legal examination of major G20 economies. The research covers the United States, the European Union and its key member states (Germany, France, Italy, Spain), as well as representative countries such as Switzerland, China, Japan, and India. For each country, the report systematically categorizes and outlines the evolution of its core AML/CFT legislation (e.g., the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, USA PATRIOT Act; the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Directives; China's Anti-Money Laundering Law) and its specialized cybersecurity legal and regulatory frameworks (e.g., China's Cybersecurity Law, the EU's Network and Information Security Directive, Germany's IT Security Act). The analysis focuses not only on the legal texts themselves but also on regulatory bodies, enforcement mechanisms, and specific applications within the banking sector.

The report dedicates specific chapters to exploring the interaction and collaboration between AML/CFT and cybersecurity at the international organizational level. Chapter Three analyzes the roles of institutions such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in setting global standards, promoting information sharing, and capacity building. Furthermore, Chapter Twenty-Seven of the report specifically discusses AML compliance and auditing practices, including internal and external audit processes, and introduces assessment tools such as the Basel AML Index.

The conclusion of this study emphasizes the indispensability of international and regional cooperation for effectively addressing cross-border financial crime and cyber threats. The report notes that although national legal frameworks are increasingly converging with international standards, significant differences remain in enforcement intensity, regulatory priorities, and technical response capabilities. Banks and other financial institutions must not only comply with increasingly complex domestic regulations but also integrate AML/CFT control measures with cybersecurity defense systems to build a more resilient and comprehensive risk management architecture. The comparative legal perspective and detailed legal materials provided in this report offer an important knowledge base for understanding the current landscape and future trajectory of the global financial regulatory ecosystem.