The internationalization of money laundering schemes may be a deliberate strategy to take advantage of imperfect investigative cooperation, a lack of harmonization between domestic legislation, bank secrecy, and the absence of regulation in those countries that are the weak links in the global anti- money laundering chain. This has created a demand for the regulation of nonbank financial institutions and demands on national legislators, law enforcement agencies, and criminal justice systems to adapt their domestic laws to the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. For anti-money laundering systems to be effective domestically and internationally, each country must establish both regulatory and crime-control policies according to some minimum common criteria that set an international standard for the intensity with which the policies are pursued. To achieve this result, an integrated system of international cooperation must be realized, and international mechanisms, such as banks, and countries should solicit and help other countries to participate in a common protective net based on recognized criteria. This is the stated goal of recent international money laundering conferences. A further necessary condition for an effective and efficient anti-money laundering system is the maintenance of a high level of flexibility in the system.