NGO: Chinese Banks Must Stop Laundering Wildlife Traffickers’ Money
DAVID KLEIN, 22 April 2021
Activists fighting against the illegal trade in endangered species of both plants and animals have called on Chinese banks to prevent illegal wildlife traffickers from exploiting their networks to launder money. Otherwise those banks will risk greater scrutiny and pressure from foreign governments.
TRAFFIC, a non-governmental organisation focusing on the global trade in wild animals and plants, released a report this month which found that the illegal wildlife trade generates between US$7 billion and $23 billion each year – as much as the illegal trafficking of narcotics, arms, and humans generate – and this cannot occur without financial crime and corruption.
“Given that the Chinese banking sector is the largest in the world and given the scale of the illegal wildlife trade in Asia, Chinese banks have a key role to play,” and it would be in their interest to address this issue, the NGO said.
“For the many Chinese banks looking to expand internationally, it is essential to ensure that their anti-money laundering and anti-corruption systems meet the expectations of regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they operate,” TRAFFIC said.
