By AML Intelligence Correspondent
THE LAST five years has seen a 100pc increase in modern slavery and human trafficking instances in Europe and North America, according to a report today (Mon).
The report by Moody’s shows:
- Modern slavery increased in Europe by nearly 17% from 2022 to 2023 – rising from 18,335 to 21,626, rising from 10,277 in 2018, with most activity taking place in Italy.
- The US has more than 4x the amount of human trafficking activity as Mexico and Canada combined.
- The UK accounts for nearly a third of money laundering activity in Europe (29%).
“Almost all criminal activity is carried out in the pursuit of money, creating an entire ‘service industry’ built around washing dirty money. The data found human trafficking as a frequent predicate crime to money laundering globally, connected to over 10% of cases flagged,” the Moody’s Grid data says.
Italy persistently exhibited the highest number of modern slavery events, with approximately 32,000 incidents over five years from 2018.
Following Italy are France and Spain with around 18,000 and 13,000 events respectively. In the UK, instances have almost doubled from approximately 12,500 to 24,000 over the same period.
North America saw a rise of over 100% in unique human trafficking and forced labor instances, with a rise from 214 to 572 over the same five year period. The US has the most human trafficking related activity across the region, with a total of 15,631 profiles, compared to 2,277 in Mexico and 1,165 in Canada.
Accompanying the upward trend in modern slavery, money laundering activities globally increased over the same time period by 17%, from 25,738 risks added in 2018, to 37,184 in 2023. Europe saw a greater increase, of 25% year on year.
The UK has the most money laundering activity in Europe, being responsible for 29% of reported incidents, followed by Italy with 16%, and Russia with 12%.
The analysis identified human trafficking as a frequent predicate crime to money laundering globally, connected to over 10% of cases flagged by Moody’s.
Keith Berry, General Manager, Compliance and Third-party Risk Management Solutions at Moody’s said: “There is a concerning link between human trafficking and the facilitation of money laundering. Financial crime is growing increasingly complex and interconnected with other forms of crime.
“This is an expanding environment that is always looking for vulnerabilities in the financial system. Governments, corporates, and all organizations need robust, modern due diligence to help prevent money laundering and the illicit activity linked to it,” he added.
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