International Money Laundering From Latin America to Asia:
Who Pays?

The 2003 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium
Presented by the Berkeley Journal of International Law
Including the presentation of
the 2003 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Award and the 2003 Board of Editors Award

February 28 - March 1, 2003
Booth Auditorium, University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)

Co-sponsored by the U.C. Berkeley Center for Latin American Studies, the Boalt Hall Student Association, the U.C. Berkeley Graduate Assembly, the Boalt Hall Dean of Student Services, and the Dean of Boalt Hall School of Law

For 2003, the Riesenfeld Symposium turned its attention to the ever more urgent problem of money laundering. It stems in the parsimony of resources in the developing world and the resulting extra legal ways of obtaining them. It is rooted deeply in the cultures of societies which have not known stable regimes or benevolent rulers. It has been perpetuated by the corruption and decadence of the higher echelons of nations new to or unacquainted with democracy. Its urgency emanates from the poverty, crime and violence it breeds. Its venom has poisoned the morale of societies and broken the spirits of peoples.

We are aware of the fashion in which the private sector, our banks and corporations, are affected by money laundering. We are aware of the intersection of business interest and the possibility for eradicating the corruption and infractions on the rights of those who do not belong to those self-enriching, corrupt higher echelons. Thus, we sought out individuals who understand the workings of the needs of new democracies, the buds of crime and the impetus for corruption and money laundering. We believe their research and writings will contribute significantly to the sparse existing work on the topic. We hope that our joint effort, the scholars’ and the journal’s, uncovered solutions and constructive proposals on ways to defeat a phenomenon that has depleted the resources of needy societies and has robbed their citizens of economic and moral freedom and dignity.

The 2003 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium Conference addressed drug and weapons trafficking in Latin America and the money laundering schemes that go hand-in-hand with them. Additionally, the conference looked at new democracies in Asia and Eastern Europe, and in particular, at their lucrative trade in women. Significantly, the symposium addressed current measures dealing with money laundering, like the Patriot Act and “know your client” rules, as well as the potential for better measures and resolutions. We believe that the private sector, in the face of banks and corporations, has a strong incentive to survey these issues, as they impact not only the rights of human beings to lead free lives, but also the economies of the developing world and the business of the first world.

Our mission was to bring to the forefront of public discourse difficult, if not unbearably heart-wrenching, issues in international law. In 2003, we strived to do that with the problem of money laundering and to challenge our international community and organizations to recognize its immediacy and need for redress.

Agenda for 2003 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Symposium
Booth Auditorium, Boalt Hall School of Law
University of California, Berkeley

Friday, February 28, 2003

Saturday, March 1, 2003

	Panel I: Focus on Latin America: Status of Affairs and Policy Reforms Moderator: Harley Shaiken, Chair, Center for Latin American Studies, U.C. Berkeley - Juan Sola, Professor and Chairman of the Public Law Department, University of Buenos Aires - Juan Tokatlian, Professor, Universidad de San Andres, Buenos Aires - Edward Luis "Lucho" Garzon, Executive Committee of the National Peace Council, Colombia
	Panel IV: Resolution: Banking and Globalization Moderator: Andrew Guzman, Acting Professor of Law and Director, International Legal Studies Program, Boalt Hall School of Law - Kal Raustiala, Acting Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law - Mads Andenas, Director, British Institute of International and Comparative Law - Bruce Zagaris, Partner, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP - Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Assistant Professor, Stanford Law School
	Panel III: Worldwide Effects of Money Laundering: Trafficking of Women in Asia and Eastern Europe Moderator: Kristin Madigan, third-year Boalt Hall student - Diane Amann, Professor, U.C. Davis School of Law - Lan Cao, Cabell Professor of Law, William & Mary School of Law; Visiting Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School - Nancy Ely-Raphel, Senate Advisor to the Secretary, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
	Panel IV: Enforcement Moderator: Martha Boersch, United States Attorney's Office, Organized Crime Strike Force - Stefan D. Cassella, Deputy Chief, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering, U.S. Department of Justice - John Moscow, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney - Jack Blum, Senate Investigator; Partner, Lobel Novins & Lamont

<< Return to main symposium page