ABA ROLI Hosts Regional Conference to Combat Financial Crimes

On August 29-30, 2023, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) delivered a conference on Public-Private Partnerships for Financial Integrity in Bangkok, Thailand, held in partnership with the Government of Thailand Anti-Money Laundering Office and the UNODC Global Program against Money Laundering.

The Conference brought together more than 50 participants from Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, and Montenegro to share successful examples of proactive public-private financial information sharing and proven methodologies to detect and disrupt a wide range of harmful crimes. The Public-Private Partnerships for Financial Integrity Conference was organized under ABA ROLI’s Intelligence-Led Money Laundering Investigations Program, through grant funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. The program aims to develop capacity in several Balkan and Southeast Asian countries to identify and disrupt the most harmful facilitators and offenders of financial crime. Specifically, the Program develops the capacity to make better use of a wide range of alternative criminal and civil disruption methods against criminal networks and professional money launderers.

ABA ROLI engaged diverse speakers from the banking and financial services sector including Standard Chartered Bank, the Thai Bankers’ Association, Western Union, K Bank, Thailand HSBC, National Australia Bank, Bank of America, and other financial institutions. These private sector organizations, (banks, money service providers, and designated non-financial businesses and professions) often have a sophisticated understanding of the financial crime risks within their organizations and regional operations. They play a crucial role in preventing and detecting financial crime. Similarly, NGOs often possess valuable knowledge of criminal offenders and networks within their research or operational interests, such as human trafficking and slavery, illicit wildlife trade, illegal logging and fishing, and associated corruption. Speakers representing the Freeland Foundation, Centre for Global Advancement, and the Stella Maris Thailand Seafarer’s Centre shared proven effective measures to work with government to disrupt illicit financing and to rescue and care for victims of criminal networks and traffickers as part of successful partnerships in this area.

Participants and panelists representing financial intelligence units and related agencies from Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, New York City, London, and Montenegro, shared their valuable stories of multi-agency approaches to preventing, detecting, and disrupting serious financial crimes and how to trace and seize profits from crime.