Development of the legal mechanism to counteract the legalization (laundering) of income (including funds or other assets) obtained through criminal means

The article analyzes the development of the legal mechanism for combating the legalization (laundering) of income obtained through criminal means. The study substantiates the author's concept of the further development of the mechanism of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) by 2030, based on the idea of a multi-level risk-oriented system, including macro, meso, micro, and supranational levels. It proposes not a radical change in the institution, but its "network" modernization through strengthening the connections between levels of risk assessment, sanction regulation, and international standards. The work emphasizes the importance of integrating the AML/CTF regime with the regime of special economic and coercive measures, as well as developing institutions for transparency in beneficial ownership and digitizing control procedures. The subject of the research is the legal mechanisms for combating the legalization (laundering) of income obtained through criminal means in the Russian Federation, including the regulatory legal framework according to Federal Law No. 115-FZ, the development of a risk-oriented approach, the integration of the AML/CTF regime with special economic and coercive measures, as well as institutions for the transparency of beneficial ownership and digitization. The goal of the research is the scientific substantiation and development of a concept for the evolution of the legal mechanism for combating the legalization of income obtained through criminal means. The study employs general scientific and specific scientific methods: formal legal, comparative legal, and systemic structural. The empirical basis consists of federal legislation (mainly Federal Law No. 115-FZ), acts of the President and the Government of the Russian Federation aimed at improving AML/CTF and special economic measures, reviews from the Bank of Russia, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, and scientific publications on the legal mechanism for combating the legalization of income. The scientific novelty lies in the proposal of an author's multi-level risk-oriented model for the development of the legal mechanism for AML/CTF, where the risk-oriented approach becomes the fundamental principle of the model, not just an internal compliance tool. The work highlights specific areas for improving legislation aimed at strengthening the connections between risk assessment levels, sanction regimes, and digitization of control. The analysis showed that the introduced amendments to laws 461-FZ and 222-FZ strengthen sectoral differentiation, the sanction contour, and the automation of control. In 2024–2026, a qualitative complication of money laundering schemes is observed, a rise in the share of digital and transit channels, and an increase in the role of "front" beneficiaries.