Money laundering refers to the various methodologies used to make assets acquired illicitly appear legal. It involves converting illegally obtained funds into seemingly lawful assets or creating businesses to generate further income for financing the same illicit activities that originally generated the funds. Money laundering and terrorist financing have become pressing concerns for the government and regulatory bodies around the globe.

In India, the primary laws enforced to combat money laundering activities is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (“PMLA”), and Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Record) Rules, 2005 (“PMLR”). The PMLA read with PMLR are coupled with rules and regulations formed by other regulators such as Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”), Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) which displays a broad framework for the anti-money laundering laws in India.