The Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Committee earmarked $2 million in Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) risk assessment funding in the FY 2020 budget.
The $2 million would fund a risk assessment conducted through FinCEN to analyze the threat TBML poses on our national security. TBML encompasses cartels and terrorist organizations’ hijacking international trade networks to transfer funds across international borders. It allows them to circumvent banks and the monitoring to which banks are subject.
“Trade-based money laundering is America’s biggest national security threat that almost no one is paying attention to. It links together drug trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, Hezbollah, and dangerous counterfeit products,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who helped secure the funding, said. “In order to solve this crisis, we need to fully analyze the threat it poses to our nation. This begins the process.”
Cassidy is an expert on the subject. He spoke on an expert panel on TBML last week at a conference at George Mason University.
“Cartels and terrorists are moving billions of dollars unchecked to fund their violent organizations. Trade-based money laundering is America’s biggest national security threat that almost no one is paying attention to,” Cassidy said at the conference. “In order to solve this crisis, we need to bring it into the national conversation. This conference elevates the issue.”
Cassidy also released a white paper in September about the threat of TBML. It outlined TBML as a threat which ties together drug trafficking, terrorism, and dangerous counterfeit consumer products.