WWF and ACAMS launch Anti-Illegal Wildlife Trade Initiative
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) have reportedly launched an initiative aimed an empowering compliance professionals to combat the increasing threat presented by the illegal wildlife trade.
According to an article by Regulation Asia, wildlife crime is reportedly estimated to be a USD19 billion annual business, and is the fourth largest illegal trade business, behind firearms, drugs and human trafficking.
Angela Salter, Interim President, ACAMS, said: “The vast sums that can be generated by a single syndicate will typically move across multiple borders and through multiple entities, including traditional financial institutions.”
The newly forged partnership aims to increase collaboration between financial institutions, governmental bodies and non-profit groups to strengthen the fight against the illegal trade, a trade which threatens to destroy the natural world, and fuels corruption on a global scale.
The project has three immediate goals:
- To raise awareness of the issue through conferences, strategic roundtables, member engagement and other ACAMS forums and publications.
- To develop educational and training modules for public- and private-sector organisations.
- To create a compliance toolkit incorporating the red flags of illegal wildlife trade and the ACAMS Risk Assessment model.
As part of the initiative, free certificates outlining the steps financial sector actors should take to identify, report, mitigate and remedy the risks associated with each stage of an illegal wildlife supply chain will be offered and distributed.
The initiative hopes to assist financial intelligence units and compliance investigators in addressing and mitigating the threat presented by the illegal wildlife trade, and hopes to instigate regional and national operations targeting suspicious transactions or ongoing cases with red flags in order to put a stop to the financial flows enabling the illegal trade.
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