Money laundering fuels everything from terror finance and sanctions evasion to human trafficking and corruption. However, experts warn that our anti-money laundering efforts are on the brink of failure, as law enforcement only interdicts less than one-half of one percent of the trillions of dollars laundered each year. We need a new approach to addressing money laundering and the dangerous threats to our safety and security from the crimes funded through illicit finance.
As gold prices surge past $3,000 per troy ounce—a historic milestone driven by geopolitical turmoil, inflation fears, and a weakening U.S. dollar— the effects are being felt around the world and underscore the role that illicit finance and illegally extracted resources play in fueling conflicts.
Prioritizing small scale, politicized anti-money laundering policies over meaningful structural reforms will do little to protect Americans from the impacts of illegal drug trafficking, writes FACT program director for environmental crime and illicit finance Julia Yansura.
FACT welcomes the release by Treasury of a proposed form that will be used by covered entities to submit information on the true beneficiaries of certain real estate purchases, pursuant to groundbreaking new anti-money laundering regulations.
In this month’s news roundup, Treasury releases reporting form advancing landmark anti-money laundering regulations for U.S. residential real estate markets, FACT now hiring, and other highlights from FACT’s publications and our allies.
In his debut blog, FACT policy fellow Omer Niazi argues for the necessity of comprehensive anti-money laundering safeguards for cryptocurrency markets, with associated risks only growing as anonymous transactions on decentralized finance platforms become more commonplace.
While major progress has been made in 2024 on key anti-money laundering priorities, more work is needed to counter corruption and ensure government integrity and accountability to the public.
