Odeh, Layan Mazen2013-05-212013-05-212012-0390048http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/110DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTIONFinancial crime has been present ever since business and trade have started; however, the issue of financial crime was only dealt with ex post facto. In the last few years, particularly after the 2007 global economic crisis, finding the connection between white-collar crime and economic crises became the primary focus of many corporations and legal entities. This research paper shows how financial crime contributed to the global financial crisis, consolidates the global state of financial crime in the last 5 years (2007-2011), presents an analysis on corruption and explains the laws created and/or modified by governments to mitigate the risk of financial crime. Research has shown that financial delinquency is more common in developing countries than developed ones; therefore, this research paper delves into the state of financial crime in the GCC markets by presenting the largest incidents of fraud that occurred and governments’ actions to combat it. The research method used was qualitative case study research; the data used was qualitative secondary data and was analyzed using content analysis. The paper finds that financial crime was one of the factors that caused the 2007 global economic crisis, financial crime incidents were aggravated in some sectors and countries after the crisis but decreased in others, and most importantly, it is the discovery of crime that increased the most during economic turmoil. The paper also concludes that corruption and bribery are increasing in many countries, regulators are paying attention to the issue of corruption but corporations are not. Lastly, GCC countries are still on their early stages in combating financial crime, however, they are employing effective tools and measures, which put them on the right direction.englobal financial crimeGCC countrieseconomic crisisDissertation