One of the most serious security threats posed by poaching and wildlife trafficking may also be one of the least well documented: their relationship with organised crime.

To shed light on the subject, this chapter analyses the most common narratives on the link between poaching, wildlife trafficking and organised crime – and the security threat this link poses in African source and transit countries.

Understanding Terrorist Finance provides powerful new insights into the financial and economic realities of terrorist groups.  Dispelling popular myths, the book presents the first unified coherent framework for the systematic analysis of terrorist finance and includes empirical studies of the financing of groups in Europe, Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. 

We have just published our 28th Working Paper on a topic that is concerning AML, FinTech and RegTech professionals, finance professionals and law enforcement agencies worldwide - as well as ordinary citizens who wish to take advantage of new payment methods.

The topic? Regulating cryptocurrencies: challenges and considerations.

Cryptocurrency regulations are developing fast. Across the world, authorities are reacting to the emerging threat posed by criminals using new payment methods to conceal and launder the proceeds of their crimes.

However, as the application of anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) due diligence requirements becomes stricter and more entities implement preventative measures, criminals are constantly looking elsewhere for potential havens for their illicit activities.

The Public Ministry of the Peruvian region of La Libertad organised a seminar on “seeking effective mechanisms in the fight against corruption and money laundering” last week. Supported by the Subnational PFM Programme of the Swiss SECO Cooperation and the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery, the event was attended by more than 300 participants.

The Basel Institute's cryptocurrency expert, Federico Paesano, delivered a successful open training course on blockchain, cryptocurrencies and AML/CFT this week in collaboration with Zurich-based MME and its Senior Compliance Advisor, Chris Gschwend.

The two-day course, FinTech AML Compliance Training, covered the essentials of blockchain and how to adapt AML/CFT processes to the FinTech industry.

This article illustrates an early example of corporate Collective Action, the Wolfsberg Group, and charts its development from its inception, in 1999, up to 2012. The Wolfsberg Group is an association of eleven banks that took its name from the Château Wolfsberg where the banks held their first meetings and where they continue to hold their annual forum.