The UN Convention, which was signed by 44 states on December 19, 1988, aims at curbing the illicit traffic in narcotics drugs because of its strong links with "other related organized criminal activities which undermine the legitimate economies and threaten the stability, security and sovereignty of States." Under this Convention, all parties are obliged to establish as a criminal offense in their internal legal orders the laundering of proceeds from drug-related offenses, which are specified in the Convention. The relevant Council of Europe Convention is based on the UN Convention. Laundering offenses are regulated in Article 6 of the Convention, and the wording of the definition is almost identical to that of the UN Convention; however, the two instruments differ in two important respects. Whereas, the UN Convention outlaws even acts of participation in laundering offenses, the element of "participation" is not contained in the European Convention. Secondly, the European Convention not only refers to the laundering of proceeds from drug offenses but extends to all crimes. The G-7 Action Task Force was established to assess the results of the cooperation already undertaken to prevent the use of the banking system and financial institutions for money laundering operations. Forty recommendations focus on improvements in national legal systems, enhancement of the role of the financial system, and the strengthening of international cooperation. The European Economic Council's directive on money laundering breaks new ground, in that it does not approach money laundering as a subsidiary problem to drug trafficking or any other serious crime; rather, it focuses on money laundering proper and attempts to prevent launderers from taking advantage of the single market in financial services. This article provides overviews of existing legislation against money laundering in France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Greece, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Norway. 81 footnotes