According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the figure for tainted money in the world stands at around $800 billion to $2 trillion. Given the adverse impacts of money laundering i.e., mistakes in the decisions taken on macro-economic levels (due to wrong information and statistics); foreign exchange fluctuations; unreliable and unstable financial company structures; as well as improper allocation of resources (due to wrong pricing and financial assessments), it is indeed necessary for the governments to counter the new global threat of money laundering at all costs.
Effective measures have been taken throughout the world to counter money laundering on legal, technological and executive levels. Then again, the money launderers have always tried to have the upper hand by avoiding detection, exposure and confiscation.
The global financial crisis exposed the fact that there is indeed some kind of connection between the money launderers and the financial systems. Somehow, it also showed that the global banking system is still inefficient and unable to offset money laundering. The conclusion is that the financial markets realized they would have to come up with proper policies and plans not to repeat the same devastating mistakes again.
With the global financial crisis in full swing and the shortage of cash in the financial markets and banks, the western banksters are left with no other option but to retreat and allow part of the tainted money get into the financial system – in a bid to save their banks from filing for chapter 11 i.e., bankruptcy.       
According o the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the drug proceeds are the only source of income for some banks as the last hope to stop them from going bankrupt. The UN estimates that around $352 billion of narcotics money were injected into the global economy last year. As a consequence, the International Monetary Fund should work with the world leaders to review the existing global banking system.
As mentioned earlier, banks are short of cash, especially in the countries hard hit by the financial turmoil. The IMF estimates that American and European banks lost over $1 trillion as a result of poison assets and loan defaults. Also at least 200 major credit companies went bust during the financial crisis.
Under the circumstances, the money launderers and drug smugglers no longer have to hide their tainted money; instead they are free (and allowed) to invest their tainted money in the global banking system. These opportunists have been able to purchase investment bonds and shares at cut-down prices.
The serious decline seen recently in the prices of many major investments was a chance for money managers for drug traffickers to purchase, at depressed prices, some of the best blue-chip securities and related financial instruments in the market. Since the objective of these financial managers is medium- to long-term gain, and they are so well funded with cash, they can afford to wait months, or even years for the markets to rebound.
The IMF warns that international bankers must be alert for the movement of large amounts of cash, from the more unreformed offshore tax havens, into financial institutions, preparatory to placement in investments. Since much of this money has been in corporate, trust, foundation, and nonprofits accounts for years, its dodgy origins have long since been lost in time, and the offshore accounts probably predate effective compliance.