Themis Newsletter - May

Welcome to the latest newsletter where we show you a few highlights from Themis, and focus in on the big global financial crime news stories.

Earlier this month, Themis hosted the latest event in our series of CEO roundtables, this time focusing on the intersection of art and financial crime in Abu Dhabi. Over breakfast, our Head of Research, Nadia O’Shaughnessy, presented a compelling overview of how criminals, corrupt officials, fraudsters, and sanctioned entities exploit the lucrative art market to conceal, store, and transfer illicit funds globally. The roundtable gathered senior leaders from both business and government sectors, fostering a robust discussion on risk mitigation in the increasingly exposed art market. Stay tuned for our upcoming event in London and keep an eye out for our forthcoming briefing note, “Sketchy Dealings”, which will delve deeper into these critical issues.?

View briefing note here.

Themis is delighted to have published our 2023 Annual Impact Report this month, as we continue to celebrate our B-Corp certification. This report sets out our commitments across the five B Corp Impact areas of Governance, Workers, Communities, Customers and Environment, together with case studies of our work with clients, including our continuing work on modern slavery and human trafficking, as well as various projects on environmental crime, including the development of the Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit in collaboration with WWF-UK. In addition to setting out our impact achievements during 2023, the report highlights our plans to continually improve our impact for our staff, communities, customers, and the environment.

View B Corp Report 2023 here.

Themis is excited to announce an exclusive collaboration with Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), significantly enhancing its data coverage in the Middle East. With access to ADGM's company and director data, Themis aims to provide unparalleled accuracy and coverage to its clients, empowering them with deeper insights in the fight against financial crime. This strategic integration enables clients to leverage additional data for investigations, risk mapping, screening, and automated monitoring, marking a pivotal step forward in the industry's efforts to combat financial crime effectively. This partnership reaffirms Themis' commitment to staying ahead of the curve and underscores its position as a trusted leader in the field. Themis has now integrated data from approximately 7,000 proprietary corporate clients registered with ADGM into its system. This unique access allows clients to subscribe to Themis' investigation module and benefit from additional data sourced directly from ADGM.

Top Financial Crime News Stories

A recent report from the UNODC reveals the staggering scope of the illegal wildlife trade, with traffickers targeting over 4,000 species worldwide and operating in 80% of countries, with an annual valuation of up to $23 billion. This illicit activity presents formidable challenges and is deeply intertwined with associated crimes, such as corruption and bribery of inspectors and government officials - and is also deeply linked to organised crime groups. As a leading advocate in combatting environmental crime, Themis offers a vital resource for financial institutions to address their vulnerability to the illegal wildlife trade. Our Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Financial Flows Toolkit provides actionable solutions and can be accessed for free here.?

Source: The Guardian

Earlier this month, the UK’s deputy foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, disclosed that nearly 40% of the world's laundered money flows through London and UK crown dependencies, a startling statistic which highlights the UK and its crown territories’ significant role in the movement of illicit financial flows. Mitchell called on territories – which include the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands - to comply with UK laws mandating public registers of beneficial ownership to tackle corruption. Although legislation was enacted in 2016, implementation has been delayed, with these territories citing European court rulings as obstacles. Mitchell stressed the importance of these territories aligning with UK values, predicting that Foreign Secretary David Cameron will intensify efforts to enforce transparency and combat financial crime.?

Source: The Guardian

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has called on all organisations to strengthen cyber security to counter rising cyber-attacks, which pose an increasing threat to personal data. In 2023, over 3,000 breaches were reported, with finance, retail, and education sectors most affected. A new report, “Learning from the Mistakes of Others”, which can be accessed here, highlights common security failures and provides practical prevention advice. The report serves as a crucial reminder that cyber security is an ongoing battle, with key breach causes identified - phishing, brute force attacks, denial of service, configuration errors, and supply chain attacks. Additionally, the research warns of the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in lowering the barrier to cyber-crime and enabling more sophisticated phishing campaigns.??

Source: ICO

If you would like to discuss any of our research findings in more depth please do not hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].