---
title: Components of a Money Laundering Scheme
description: "Learn about the key steps in a money laundering scheme: placement, layering, and integration, and how frontline personnel can detect suspicious activity."
---

[Banker's Compliance Consulting Blog ](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en)

# [Components of a Money Laundering Scheme](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/money-laundering-scheme-components)

 Written by [Kevin Edwards](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/author/kevin-edwards) | Mar 21, 2025 6:53:20 PM

Frontline personnel have a unique vantage point for identifying potentially suspicious activity such as money laundering. Every single money laundering process has three basic steps. These are placement, layering and integration. The first step, placement, is about getting the illicit funds into the banking system, hopefully without being detected. Once that happens, the next step is layering or moving those funds around. This can consist of transferring the money between a variety of accounts or using the money to purchase assets. Finally, integration is when the illicit funds appear as if they came from legitimate business transactions.

Kevin explains more in the video.

<https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJl3wy6j9knmzCrmKznDn%2BCjGZRdXC%2BUPrZ9Es%2BrSYMIEaAJN5%2F5BALetaCbkqgtVK8hggXb2TfCmQAGHxXn5I4acqEaH96YkTSMTVU2e4nuhpE4sX%2BeOfmhgrOD%2FKAkXiOmq44WN3d1cKjBF8XEVaG2I%2F5SFKtL6MUbFT2Q8udDzlNHfzO7f4kMP9Peqvfl0vblSykRTnYZjCkQ%2Bd8iES5hJ3TEaczbRU%3D&webInteractiveContentId=185806601742&portalId=21201105>

Published  
2025/03/21

 

[View full post](https://blog.bankerscompliance.com/en/money-laundering-scheme-components)

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