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25 J. Fin. Crime 2 (2018)

handle is hein.journals/jfc25 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial Journal of Financial Crime Vol.25 No.1,2018 PP. 2-4 Erald Publishing Limited 1359-0790 DOI 1&I1OS4WC-V1&2017-0089 Cambridge symposium on economic crime Over the past few years, governments and now the compliance industry appear to have woken up to the practical importance of financial intelligence. Of course, the significance of knowing who pays for what and where they keep their money was not lost on Nero, so this is nothing new. Indeed, at a meeting of ministers of justice and senior law officers in Winnipeg, Canada in 1977, concern was expressed about the vulnerability of, in particular, developing and more fragile economies to the threat of serious economically motivated crime and organised crime. Ministers expressed the view that in combating what was seen to be the destabilising agenda of the increasingly isolated Republic of South Africa, more attention need to be given to the economic aspects of crime. A major review of the then existing arrangements for mutual legal assistance and co-operation between law enforcement and other relevant agencies was commissioned by the British Government, Commonwealth Secretariat and General Secretariat of ICPO-Interpol. The findings and recommendations of this review were received by Commonwealth ministers and attorneys general in Barbados in May 1980. It was recognised that the then conventional mechanisms for co-operation were inadequate in protecting vulnerable economies and merely police force to police force did not work. Indeed, in many resources relevant to combating economically motivated crime were outside the police and consequently the Interpol network. As a direct result of this, a special unit was established within the Commonwealth Secretariat, with full diplomatic immunity, to spearhead at an intelligence level the better collaboration and co-operation between not just traditional police agencies but all agencies concerned with promoting stability and security in the context of economic crime and related activity. In many respects, this unit was the first financial intelligence unit and certainly the first to operate at a supra-national level. In an attempt to bring together those individuals and organisations concerned with promoting the prevention and disruption of economic crime and especially organised crime, a conference was organised with the support of the University of Cambridge in 1982, at Jesus College, Cambridge. This was the first Cambridge international symposium on economic crime and was attended by 156 participants from 25 countries. The 35th symposium took place in Jesus College, during the first week of September 2017, and had well over 1,800 participants from over 100 countries. Participants included ministers, legislators, senior officials, regulators, law enforcement, intelligence and security personnel, diplomats, judges, prosecutors, academics and many in the business and financial sectors and those who professionally advise them. Last year, the symposium as its primary theme questioned where in preventing and controlling economically motivated misconduct the buck stopped. This year, the symposium questioned whether those responsible were up to the job. Of course, notwithstanding the importance of the overarching theme, over 50 specialist workshops focused on a wide range of other issues including, for example, legal professional privilege, debarment regimes and big data. Over the past 35 years, there have been numerous and significant developments in all aspects of addressing the threats presented by economic crime. However, one concern that repeatedly manifested itself throughout this year's symposium was the need for personal contacts, which could facilitate trust and thus facilitate meaningful co-operation over and above all the developments that have occurred in institutionalising mutual assistance and improving the efficacy and integrity of communication. While perhaps gratifying for those who have been involved in the symposia over the years, it is perhaps surprising that in many ways we have come full JFC 25,1

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