As part of our mission to move money for better, we are proud to be a founder member of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Financial Taskforce, a group of organisations committed to the global fight against the trafficking of protected animals and plants. The taskforce, co-chaired by HRH the Duke of Cambridge, held its latest meeting in London recently to share ideas about how members can work together to end this damaging form of financial crime. Chloe MacEwen, Vice President of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Western Union, and Nick Mays from Western Union’s Financial Intelligence Unit explain how financial firms are supporting the campaign.
Each year more than $50bn of wild animals and plants are moved illegally around the world. Some estimates put that amount even higher at $150bn. While many people know about the fight against the illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn for example, the scope of the industry is much wider and more complex than that.
Although often seen as a conservation issue, wildlife crime is now recognised as the 4th most lucrative global criminal activity and is dependent on financial infrastructure, including for the laundering of proceeds and other associated crimes.
What can Western Union do?
The reason why financial companies like Western Union are contributing their expertise to the campaign, is because stopping the money flowing around this industry is one crucial step in breaking the illegal wildlife trade chain and tackling what is at root, a form of financial crime.
There is evidence that groups involved in the illegal sale of protected animals and plants tend also to be involved in other criminal activities such as trafficking of people, narcotics, weapons, money laundering and financing of terrorism. That means stopping this form of crime will contribute to better outcomes for the communities and the countries touched by this harmful trade.
Western Union is committed to co-operating with law enforcement through information sharing and public-private partnerships to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking and end the illicit financial flows it generates. To do this it is essential for Western Union to maintain close co-operation with law enforcement agencies, supervisors and regulators in this area and ensure there are appropriate legal gateways for sharing information.
We encourage improvement in international co-operation among government agencies to not only tackle this issue but put a stop to it.
