Humans of the Anti-Trafficking Movement
“I am a Financial Crimes Consultant. I conduct reviews of (foreign bank) customers with my bank and assess their Anti Money Laundering programs to understand the risks and mitigate them so the customers are allowed to use products and services. Many times, we can’t narrow down specifically to trafficking. When we encounter something that is unusual, we file an unusual activity report (UAR) within five days, indicating what we found along with supporting documentation. The information is then reviewed by another group that will perform deeper research to determine if a suspicious activity report (SAR) should be filed. This is then sent to FINCEN, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. They will then take further action and track to connect with any other filings, and/or raise the flag to report to law enforcement when it is deemed significant.” – Emily B, Financial Crimes Consultant, Wells Fargo.
Every industry has a role to play in addressing human trafficking. In 2018, Polaris came out with a report that specifically made recommendations to the Financial Services sector, which included refining anti-money laundering techniques to address all types of human trafficking, partnering with NGOs, survivor advocates, law enforcement and FinCEN to educate staff about trafficking operations and how these activities manifest in financial records, leveraging investment and lending systems to address human trafficking, assisting survivors in rebuilding their economic portfolio, training customer-facing staff and making the National Human Trafficking Hotline number publically accessible. All of these methods are important steps in the fight against human trafficking. Interested in learning more? Hear Emily and other financial industry experts talk about this issue at our 9th Annual Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force Conference!
#HumansOfTheAntiTraffickingMovement
Sources:
On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes: A Roadmap for Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking (2018). Polaris. Retrieved from https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking-and-financial-services-industry