Prof. Ali has published widely in areas of financial crime, financial services regulation and legal professional ethics, including her books, Money Laundering Control in the Caribbean (Kluwer Law International, 2003), and Proceeds of Crime Act: Taking the Profit out of Crime (2014). She is also the editor of the 2010 book, Risky Business: Perspectives on Corporate Misconduct (Caribbean Law Publishing). Her 2014 article in the Journal of Money Laundering Control, “The Civil Law: A Potent Crime-Fighting Device”, received the 2015 Outstanding Paper award in the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence and the 2015 UWI Principal’s Research Award for the Best Research Publication (Article). Her 2021 article in the Journal of Financial Crime, “Criminal Minds: Profiling Architects of Financial Crimes” received the Emerald Literati Outstanding Paper award for 2022 and the UWI Principal’s Research Award for the Best Research Publication (Article) in 2022.
Prof. Ali is the editor of the book The Ethical Lawyer: A Caribbean Perspective (Sweet & Maxwell, 2015) which is the core reading for students in the compulsory course, Ethics, Rights and Obligations of the Legal Profession at the NMLS and has been cited in decisions of the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council of Jamaica. In 2018, it was featured in the UWI 70th Anniversary Celebration of Books by UWI Authors Exhibition that was compiled by the libraries of The UWI.
The book, Proceeds of Crime Act: Taking the Profit Out of Crime (2014), was commissioned by the National Integrity Action (NIA). It involves an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which is a lengthy and complex piece of legislation that creates extensive powers for the investigation and prosecution of money laundering and other related financial crimes, as well as provides a framework for the recovery of illicitly obtained assets.
The book was subject to peer-review by a UK expert, as a pre-requisite to publication, and has been distributed by the NIA to financial investigators, prosecutors and the judiciary, in an effort to bolster their understanding of POCA, with a view to improving and increasing the implementation of this important law.
As a result of this publication, and related training, there was a recognition that financial investigators in Jamaica require additional intensive instruction that is specifically designed to fulfil the requirements of their tasks. As such, a UK Department for International Development (DFID)-funded project was established by the Financial Investigations Division to design a course tailored for this purpose. Professor Ali was the lead local consultant on the project which involved the publication of a course manual, the production of lesson plans and presentations, as well as the initial delivery of the Financial Investigation Training and Accreditation Programme (FITAP).
