Financial institutions worldwide are urged to adopt the toolkit; share it with colleagues, peers and industry partners; and take action to stamp out IWT.
The UK and UAE governments have jointly launched a new, freely accessible toolkit to support financial institutions in tackling illicit money flows associated with IWT (illegal wildlife trade).
IWT is not only extinguishing species and destabilising ecosystems, but also fuels corruption and undermines livelihoods in communities. It costs USD 23 billion annually, making it the fourth largest organised crime after the drug trade, human trafficking and counterfeiting.
Statistics from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and TRAFFIC include:
- around 20,000 African elephants are killed by poachers each year
- rhino poaching has soared since 2007 with an average death rate of around 100 rhinos per month
- at least 23.5 tonnes of pangolins and their parts were trafficked in 2021
Through PPPs (public-private partnerships), information sharing and international cooperation, the financial sector can play a pivotal in fighting IWT through its ability to detect and address illicit money flows associated with this crime.
Developed by the UK Serious Organised Crime Network in collaboration with the UAE government, WWF, TRAFFIC and Themis – the IWT Financial Flows Toolkit is intended to support governments and financial institutions to raise awareness of IWT and help them identify and mitigate suspicious transactions associated with IWT.
The toolkit was developed with the Africa-to-Asia route and global financial centres such as the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore in mind. It addresses the nexus where IWT converges with serious organised crime, highlighting the importance of collaboration to address this crime.
A ‘model’ strategic framework is provided for financial institutions to use to implement effective controls against IWT. The framework includes guidance on risk assessment, policies and procedures, systems and tools, training and awareness, governance and management information, periodic assessment, and ESG considerations.
A set of key red flag indicators is also provided to help financial institutions identify the key signs of suspicious activity related to IWT.
Financial institutions worldwide are urged to adopt the toolkit; share it with colleagues, peers and industry partners; and take action to stamp out IWT.
The toolkit is available here in English, Arabic and Mandarin.
The toolkit was launched at Expo Dubai on Thursday (3 March) to coincide with UN Wildlife Day, building on a partnership formed in September 2021 between the UK and UAE governments to tackle illicit financial flows.
