Crimes that are specific to
anti–money laundering (AML) programs have been referred to as Predicate Offenses (or Predicate Crimes) since the establishment of the
FATF 40 Recommendations in October, 2004. Since 2004, the FATF have updated the 40 Recommendations to expand the list of predicate offences.
Financial intelligence units in the
European Union and
United States have created legislation to mirror or expand these offences. In the United States, these offences were initially created by the
Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 and have subsequently been expanded by the
USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. The predicate offences are codified in 18 USC § 1956(c)(7). With the passage of the 6th EU Money Laundering Directive, the European Union has now adopted as standard set of Predicate Offences to mitigate loopholes in member state AML legislation. == Etymology ==