The Egmont Group Executive Secretary, Jerome Beaumont was pleased to participate in an ACAMS panel discussion, in Toronto, along with Sarah Paquet, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) as well as the IEWG Chair and Andrea Gacki, Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) this week.
Key Highlights from the panel discussion:
- International Cooperation: Emphasized the critical importance of information exchange between FIUs as well as strengthening international partnerships in combating AML/CFT threats.
- Public-Private Partnerships: Highlighted the joint collaborative efforts between Public and Private Partnerships but also between FIUs such as the case with FinCEN joining FINTRAC in the Canadian-led public-private partnerships: Projects Anton, Guardian, Shadow, and Protect, which aim to combat the illicit financing associated with illegal wildlife trade, illicit fentanyl, online child sexual exploitation, and human trafficking respectively.
- Innovation in IT: Discussed the development of advanced IT tools to fight financial crime but also the vital role analysts continue to play.
- Combating Fentanyl Trafficking: Addressed the critical issue of disrupting illicit supply chains in North America, through cross-border intelligence sharing and advanced analytics.
- Corporate Social Responsibility: Highlighted the role of reporting entities in having solid monitoring and reporting systems, as their legal obligations, but also more broadly as their corporate social responsibility, because in the end, there are real victims at stake.
Final Thought:
An important question to ask is in what ways will the role of public-private partnerships evolve, especially at the international level, considering the recent initiatives in that field in North America and in Europe?
A special thanks to colleagues Sarah Paquet and Andrea Gacki for their exceptional insights and fruitful discussion on these critical topics and to Kieran Beer for moderating the successful session.
