ICAIE Happenings
January/February 2022
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We are ushering in 2022 with new energies at ICAIE offices! We are off and running in the new year, developing our strategic plan for 2022-2023 including mapping out the calendar for new ICAIE events, webinars, podcasts, and projects.
We plan to follow-up last year's very successful "Dark Forces of Illicit Trade" webinar with a follow-up dialogue in the spring, and are also working on launching a new podcast series, alternating between ICAIE's Executive Director David Luna and Executive Deputy Director Josh Potter. We will also aim to continue numerous briefings on the challenges posed by illicit economies and crime convergence globally with key Congressional members, committees, and staff.
Through our public-private partnerships, ICAIE will continue to provide leadership energies to combat black markets, financial safe havens, illicit trade in Free Trade Zones and strategic ports, and sanctuaries of impunity in order to fight kleptocracy/corruption, organized crime, money laundering/TBML, terrorist financing, and the complicity of enablers.
Thank you to all of our members, partners, and friends for your continued support and commitment in helping ICAIE to realize its full potential. If you are interested in becoming a member, contact us at [email protected].
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Gordian Initiative: We are excited to announce the development of our innovative blueprint for a dynamic operational information-sharing project, the "Gordian Initiative".
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Through the Gordian Initiative, ICAIE will provide invaluable leadership to help communities remove the barriers to effective law enforcement, identify criminal activities, and bring suspicion and evidence of wrongdoing to the direct attention of the appropriate governmental and police authorities. Our intent is to strike the head of illicit networks with the hammer of immutable information, reinforced with solid analysis, and targeted intelligence on specific criminal activities, logistics, and their complicit enablers.
ICAIE will leverage communications; financial, geospatial, and artificial intelligence; federated learning, and other advanced analytics and technologies to investigate suspicious behavior and map networks. Our multi-faceted, global investigations will be able to access communications, real property and shipping data, manufacturing information, and financial assets to determine the types of illicit or complicit behavior suspicious networks may be conducting in specific markets, online marketplaces, or the dark web. Send us a note to learn more: [email protected]
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White House Executive Orders on Transnational Organized Crime: In December 2021, President Biden issued two presidential actions on transnational organized crime and illicit drugs to decisively detect, disrupt, and reduce the power of transnational criminal organizations.
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Business at OECD Chair of Anti-Illicit Trade Expert Group (AITEG) [ICAIE ED] helps launch new OECD report on E-Commerce Challenges in Illicit Trade in Fakes at National IPR CENTER, December 13, 2021: The new OECD report provides an overview of government- and industry-specific measures to address the abuse of online platforms by counterfeiters. In recent years, trading platforms have been instrumental in the growth in e-commerce, but at the same time, they can be abused by illicit trade networks. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these problems as people turned to e-commerce during lockdowns and shop closures.
The OECD report is also timely given the breadth and scale of nefarious actors and criminal networks' exploitation of the openness of the internet and anonymity of transactions on e-commerce. Criminal use e-commerce to evade detection, and circumvent law enforcement in order to distribute and trade in counterfeit and pirated goods, and other illicit goods and contraband, across the digital world.
Access new OECD Report, here.
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ICAIE Thought Leadership Corner: Co-Director of the Anti-Illicit Trade Institute, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC-AITI) [ICAIE ED] Chairs Summit for Democracy Side Civil Society Event On Authoritarian States’ Illicit Finance and Kleptocracy, December 2021: Illicit finance and kleptocracy are such pervasive threats that in addition to undermining democracy, they corrode the rule of law, fuel impunity, imperil effective implementation of national sustainability and economic development strategies, contribute to human rights abuses, and enflame violent conflicts.
These threats become magnified when they are advanced by authoritarian states to finance greater insecurity and instability around the world, and in a manner that harms the national security of the United States and other democracies. The corruptive influence of authoritarian forces can be seen and felt across borders and in every corner of the globe.
This is especially true when dictators or corrupt ruling elites conspire with criminals to manipulate weak governance structures, erode judicial independence, and quash anticorruption investigations and the rule of law so that democracy cannot take hold or the voice of citizens cannot be heard. Read More
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USA-IT's First Summit A Big Success |
As a proud member of the United to Safeguard America from Illegal Trade (USA-IT), ICAIE co-moderated the first Summit in Washington, DC on December 1-2, 2021. USA-IT has brought together more than 60 national and state brand enforcement experts, law enforcement agencies, and leading business organizations dedicated to fighting illegal trade.
During the summit, Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) delivered keynote speeches. "Serving in the Senate, I see the loopholes in our laws and the gaps in our policies that make it easy for criminal and terrorist networks to trade in illicit goods," said Sen. Bill Cassidy. "We need to solve illicit trade to address all of the deadly symptoms it creates. This is not just an issue of national health—it is an issue of national security." Additionally, coalition members held three panel discussions featuring subject matter experts from large and small companies, law enforcement, and policy experts to examine how illegal trade funds terrorism; new challenges confronting law enforcement; and the vital role public-private partnerships can play to reduce illegal trade.
USA-IT partners have presented their policy recommendations to Members of Congress, which USA-IT believes can advance solutions that effectively curb the threat of illegal trade. These include:
- Establishing a national framework against illegal trade and organized crime;
- Addressing challenges posed by e-commerce;
- Confronting the abuse of small parcels in contraband trade;
- Disabling foreign Free-Trade Zones (FTZs) from promoting illegal trade; and
- Disincentivizing illicit activities through stronger sanctions and penalties for criminal and corrupt actors
Read More about USA-IT here
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New ICAIE Infographic:
The Destructive Impacts of Corruption, Kleptocracy, and Bribery on Global Prosperity, Sustainable Development, and Security. (January 2022).
Help End Illicit Economies: Become Part of the Solution.
Ending impunity, holding the corrupt accountable, and building cultures of integrity.
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Recent ICAIE Notable Engagements:
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ICAIE ED featured in inaugural Sport Integrity Journal, December 2021, Vol 1.
- ICAIE co-moderated first USA-IT Summit in Washington DC (read above).
- ICAIE ED co-chairs Summit for Democracy side event in December (read above).
- ICAIE ED selected to B20 Integrity & Compliance Task Force in January 2022.
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ICAIE releases Infographics on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.
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January 27-28: B20 Indonesia 2022 Inception Meeting. Learn more about B20 here.
March 7: ICAIE Briefings in Congress, Illicit Economies and Illegal Trade: Harms to National Security.
March 16-17: OECD Task Force on Countering Illicit Trade Plenary Meetings. Learn more about TF-CIT, and Business at OECD Anti-Illicit Trade Expert Group (AITEG).
March 30-April 1: OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum, Register here.
April [TBD], ICAIE Dark Forces of Illicit Trade II Washington, DC
April 5 - May 5: Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) and Illicit Financial Flows: AML/CFT Controls, Countermeasures, Operations, and Practical Steps (Executive Webinar)
Anti-Illicit Trade Institute at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center (TraCCC-AITI), More Information here.
June 2022. ICAIE proposed event in Los Angeles, CA: Summit of the Americas Business Roundtable, Hemispheric Public-Private Partnerships to Counter Illicit Trade: Port Security, FTZs, TBML, and Economic Security. [TBD]
Coming Soon: ICAIE PODCASTS, "Dark Forces of Illicit Trade" Series by Executive Director Luna and Deputy Executive Director Potter.
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Executive Director
Deputy Executive Director
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1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004
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