Category: Financial Crime
The Illegal Wildlife Trade, Dollars & Sense by John Cusack
According to the best available sources the illegal Wildlife Trade is valued at approx US$7 – 23 billion a year, and is regularly described as the 4th most lucrative crime after any of drugs, counterfeit goods, humans and arms, with Africa the main area of concern, in particular due to the killing of Rhinos, Elephants and Pangolins, by criminal gangs that move horns, tusks and scales shipping these clandestinely onto markets in Asia.
That the illegal wildlife trade is in the billions of dollars a year and includes iconic African mammals such as Rhino’s, Elephants and Pangolin’s is not in question, and neither are the claims that criminal actors are involved and that Asia is a main destination.
Whilst this picture is a popular one, in which the illegal wildlife trade is most often portrayed, by digging a little deeper the picture becomes a little less about Africa and Asia, and involves all regions, including North America and Western Europe, and a little less about iconic African Mammals and includes reptiles, birds, fish, plants and shells.
Modern Slavery and the nexus to Illegal Unreported & Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) by Steve Farrer
Fishing is one of the major industries around the world, employing hundreds of thousands, and as a key source of protein for over 3 billion people; even a small level of IUU fishing can generate billions of dollars in illicit profits.
With an estimated 90% of the world’s fisheries classified as fully exploited or overexploited, legal and sustainable fishing operations are critical to maintain the integrity of global fishery resources.
It is estimated that illegal and unreported fishing represents approximately 14 to 33 percent of the global marine capture value , equating to an estimated US$15.5 billion to US$36.4 billion annually, making IUU Fishing one of the top 10 crimes by proceeds across the globe, and a significant contributor to “Green” or “Environmental Crimes.”
In conversation with Standard Chartered’s Praveen Jain and Vishal Marria CEO of Quantexa.
In November, 2019, Standard Chartered Bank announced that it had joined forces with Quantexa to boost further their approach to fighting financial crime. In this conversation with SCB’s Head of Financial Crime Strategy & Innovation, Praveen Jain, and Quantexa’s CEO Vishal Marria, Financial Crime News probes deeper into the “why”, the “what” and the “how” to provide insights into an “industry first” and why it’s important.
FCN: What was the problem and what was the solution?
PJ: SCB was looking for a best in class solution to support its more than a thousand investigators in its hubs as well as in its Global Financial Intelligence Unit conducting complex financial investigations generated from processing over a billion transactions a year.
Traffik Analysis Hub launches with free trials for FI’s and Others
Seventy years ago, this week, the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was adopted, and is marked each year by the UN and member states as human trafficking gets worse. An example of an exciting response though comes from the launch of the TAHub, which is a cross sector anti human trafficking research platform which is generating a lot of interest.
Described as the richest source of data on human trafficking anywhere, Directors are expected to approve a ‘try before you buy” initiative at their meeting this week. With support from IBM as the technology partner, and NGOs uploading data in numbers, opportunities to interrogate and utilise the data are now available.
Interview with Daniel Thelesklaf, Head MROS
In this interview with Daniel Thelesklaf, he discusses his distinguished career fighting financial crime, from having worked in the private sector, at an FIU, in supervision, development assistance, and sanctions enforcement, as well as his new role as Head of Switzerland’s Financial Intelligence Unit, MROS (the Money Laundering Reporting Office, Switzerland).
Daniel Thelesklaf Interview
FCN: Q1 – You led Liechtenstein’s FIU since 2012, until just a few months ago – what were the highlights?
DT: A short time after I took over in 2012, I became the national coordinator for the mutual evaluation process, led by the IMF and Moneyval.
South Africa Country Threat Assessment by FCN - Premium
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Sweden Country Threat Assessment by FCN - Premium
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Liechtenstein Country Threat Assessment by FCN - Premium
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Switzerland Country Threat Assessment by FCN - Premium
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Interview with ANZ’s Guy Boyd
On a recent trip to Australia, Financial Crime News caught up with ANZ’s Guy Boyd, now Chief Compliance Officer, in Melbourne, with responsibility also for Financial Crime Compliance. In this interview Guy answers questions on ANZ, the threats and risks facing Australia, New Zealand and the wider Region, challenges and opportunities and highlights the work of the Fintel Alliance, the public private partnership making great strides and an example to many. For more information from FCN on Country Threats on Australia see HERE, and on New Zealand see HERE:
1 FCN: What’s your current role and how did you get to this position?
GB: Since July this year I have been ANZ’s Chief Compliance Officer. Interestingly, I moved from private legal practice to ANZ in 2006 in its legal team and later into the Risk function to work on establishing a sanctions compliance response and capability.
