A series of bank-to-bank fund transfers is an example of which money laundering stage?

The process of bank-to-bank fund transfers is a quintessential example of the layering stage in money laundering. During this stage, the objective is to obscure the origins of illicit funds and separate them from their illegal source. By moving money through various accounts and institutions, often across different jurisdictions, launderers create a complex web of transactions that makes it difficult for authorities to trace the original source of the money.

Layering involves conducting a series of transfers and exchanges to disguise the trail of the money, which is what bank-to-bank transactions accomplish effectively. This movement serves both to confuse law enforcement and to make the funds appear legitimate by integrating them into the financial system through multiple layers.

The other options pertain to different stages of money laundering: placement is the initial step where illicit money is first introduced into the financial system, while integration is the final stage where the laundered money is reintroduced into the economy as seemingly legitimate funds. Curling is not a recognized term in the standard stages of money laundering. Thus, layering is the most appropriate term to describe the activity of multiple bank-to-bank fund transfers aimed at obscuring the origin of illicit funds.