US Treasury Publishes 2024 National Risk Assessments on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing

Introduction

The US Department of the Treasury has released its 2024 National Risk Assessments on money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. These assessments highlight significant illicit finance threats and vulnerabilities that confront the country.

Key Findings

• Money Laundering:
  • Criminals employ traditional and innovative techniques to move and conceal illicit proceeds.
  • Major sources of laundered funds include:
    • Fraud
    • Drug trafficking
    • Cybercrime
    • Human trafficking
    • Corruption
• Terrorist Financing:
  • The US faces diverse terrorist financing threats, both domestic and foreign.
  • Common financial connections involve direct solicitation or attempted transfer of funds to foreign terrorist groups via:
    • Cash
    • Registered money services businesses
    • Virtual assets
• Proliferation Financing:
  • Heightened risks are noted concerning Russia’s activities in Ukraine and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s exploitation of the digital economy.

Assessment Process

The assessment process was led by the Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes in collaboration with:

• Various government offices
• Law enforcement agencies
• Regulatory bodies
• Intelligence and diplomatic communities

Future Plans

The Treasury plans to release the 2024 National Strategy for Combatting Terrorist and Other Illicit Finance in upcoming weeks, which will incorporate insights from these risk assessments to propose recommendations for addressing identified issues.

Previous Improvements

Previous feedback has informed improvements to the anti-money laundering/counter-financing of terrorism framework, including:

• Implementation of beneficial ownership reporting requirements
• Proposed rules targeting illicit finance vulnerabilities in the residential real estate sector and certain investment advisers.