On 20th September 2020 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Buzzfeed News revealed close to $2 trillion of banking transactions linked to financial crime.

The data consists of SARs reports made to the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and shows leading investment banks engaging in transactions linked to money laundering and terrorist financing.

The files also show that even after many of the banks were made aware of the nature of their clients they still pursued these transactions, perhaps explaining why only 1% of illicit money flows worldwide are ever picked up.

Themis' analysis of the FinCEN Files is available for our members here. We will continue to watch this space as regulators inevitably come under pressure to overhaul their systems and start tilting the balance of power away from the criminals who are so successfully exploiting the financial system.