26th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Illicit Finance
Mr. Tom Cardamone highlighted the organization’s focus on researching illicit financial flows, trade, money laundering, and transnational crime. He emphasized the significant challenges posed by counterfeiting and illegal trade, amounting to trillions of dollars annually. Mr. Cardamone identified a critical issue: the opacity in the ownership of commercial shipping vessels, linking it to various criminal activities. He discussed findings that vessels with undisclosed owners are more prone to violating safety rules and regulations. The lack of transparency in the ownership of these ships poses a challenge for law enforcement, hindering efforts to combat illicit activities. Mr. Cardamone proposed two solutions: a national requirement for ships to disclose beneficial ownership before docking and the establishment of a global public beneficial ownership registry for companies owning or operating ships. He argued that such measures would enhance transparency, aid law enforcement, and benefit financial institutions and insurance companies. These proposals have been presented to the European Parliament for consideration in their anti-money laundering directive negotiations.
