MVA White Collar Defense, Investigations, and Regulatory Advice Blog

In 2020, we wrote about the increased regulatory attention on financial institutions’ obligations to detect and respond to human trafficking. In 2021, we wrote about how anti-human trafficking programs fit squarely in banks’ risk management and ESG platforms. As 2022 comes to a close, we add to these alerts an area of emerging potential bank liability – civil actions alleging failure to detect and respond to human trafficking.  

A few weeks ago, two sex trafficking survivors filed lawsuits against two international financial institutions including claims under the ...

The following was co-authored by Moore & Van Allen Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Senior Counsel Sarah Byrne; Dr Leona Vaughn, Vulnerable Populations Lead for FAST at UN University Centre for Policy Research; and Professor Barry Koch, former Commissioner of the Liechtenstein Initiative and co-founder of the SII, and was published by the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research on January 27, 2022.

The damaging impact of the trafficking experience on survivors is multifold. The harm is physical, psychological, as well as financial, and long-term. The global ...

Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs”), setting forth the internationally-accepted framework for the role of businesses in promoting and protecting human rights. These principles highlight the risks businesses face in their activities that may be linked to human rights violations. According to the UNGPs, “[b]usiness enterprises should respect human rights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address ...

On October 15, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of Treasury (FinCEN) released its Supplemental Advisory on Identifying and Reporting Human Trafficking and Related Activity (Supplemental Advisory). The last time FinCEN provided guidance on identifying trafficking in anti-money laundering (AML) processes was in Guidance on Recognizing Activity that May be Associated with Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking – Financial Red Flags on September 11, 2014. The evolving tactics of human traffickers and behaviors of victims required ...

The United Kingdom Home Office has released guidance to companies that are required to make a public statement about human trafficking risks and prevention measures under the U.K. Modern Slavery Act of 2015. Organizations are to address the emerging risks of exploitation at the company and in the supply chain caused by COVID-19 in their statement against modern slavery.

The guidance encourages careful consideration of the risks posed by changes in operations and supply chains that may result from the current economic crisis, including fluctuation in product or service demands and ...

Last week, the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy held a hearing on transnational trafficking networks and illicit finances.  Titled “The Traffickers’ Roadmap: How Bad Actors Exploit Financial Systems to Facilitate the Illicit Trade in People, Animals, Drugs, and Weapons,” the hearing was billed as the beginning of a bi-partisan counter-trafficking initiative to explore legislation to improve (i) the financial sector’s role in identifying trafficking; and (ii) communication ...

MVA's Human Trafficking Pro Bono Project Leader, Sarah Byrne and her fight for victims of human trafficking was highlighted by Charlotte Magazine. The article titled, "Charlotte Attorney Sarah Byrne on Fighting for Victims of Human Trafficking" was published on February 13. Read the full article here.

Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer departments at financial institutions are on the front lines of human trafficking.  Not only does enhanced transaction monitoring help law enforcement identify trafficking circumstances through generation of Suspicious Activity Reports but it helps avoid high risk lending relationships and cuts the power source of businesses or people who facilitate trafficking.

Recently, there has been an emergence of legal action related to organizational responsibility for human trafficking.  In November, the Australian Transaction ...