Domestic reformulation of the moral issues at stake in the drive against money laundering: the case of Russia

The campaign against money laundering reflects recent international concern, rooted in moral considerations. Aimed at eliminating dirty money, it relies on a minimum consensus linking a wide range of players and entails the simultaneous promotion of standards, institutions, and professional practices designed to extend to all parts of the world. In analysing the case of Russia, I seek to show that the implementation of international standards does not necessarily imply a commitment to common values or even to a common vision of the objectives of anti-laundering. The Russian example highlights, on the contrary, the latitude afforded to states to define the moral issues at stake in the fight against money laundering, in accordance with domestic concerns. This margin of flexibility is intrinsically linked to the ambiguities in the formulation at international level of the moral objectives of action to combat money laundering