Money Laundering as a Crime in the Financial Sector: A New Approach to Quantitative Assessment,with an Application to Italy

This study provides an answer to the question of how much cash deposited via a financial institution can be traced back to criminal activities, by developing a new approach to measure money laundering and proposing an application to Italy. We define a model of cash in‐flows on current accounts considering, besides “dirty money” to be laundered, also the legal motivations to deposit cash and the role of the shadow economy. We find that the average amount of cash laundered in Italy is around 6% of GDP. These findings are coherent with estimates of the nonobserved economy obtained in previous studies.     

Do Improvements in the Information Environment Enhance Insiders’ Ability to Learn from Outsiders?

We examine whether and how an exogenous shock to the information environment changes insiders’ ability to learn from outsiders. We document three main findings. First, we find an increase in investment‐to‐price sensitivity following the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Second, we show that the relation between the market reaction to M&A deal announcements and the likelihood of deal completion becomes stronger after IFRS adoption. Third, we find significant improvements in post‐acquisition operating and stock return performance post‐IFRS adoption. These results are more pronounced for firms that experienced significant increases in foreign institutional ownership around IFRS adoption, especially when these foreign investors are from countries that matter for the firm’s growth opportunities. Taken together, our findings suggest that insiders’ ability to learn from outsiders improves post‐IFRS, and this improved ability to learn from outsiders leads to real economic gains.