Luxuries and larceny: ‘Following the goods’ for AML prevention

Fancy cars. Diamond-covered watches. Luxury vacations at 5-star resorts. These are some of the many high-ticket purchases money launderers might illegally make to disguise the origins of their wealth.

So, what actions can be taken to fight this nefarious activity? How can businesses and consumers avoid complicity and prevent financial crime in the luxury goods' space?

We are thrilled to welcome back esteemed guest and expert, Jessica Cath, Head of Financial Crime at Thistle Initiatives. Her dynamic and engaging conversation with host, Alex Pillow, dives into questions like:

• What constitutes a luxury good?
• What are the three stages of money laundering?
• What role do secondary markets play in luxury goods' money laundering?
• What risk-based measures can businesses take to protect their reputations and meet regulatory obligations?
• How can individual consumers make more responsible purchasing decisions to avoid unintentionally abetting financial criminal?

If you are keen to learn more about luxury goods and AML, we encourage you to check out these additional resources:

• It’s the luxuries that give it away. To fight corruption, follow the goods by Dr. Reza Tajaddini and Dr. Hassan F. Gholipour
• Bribery and Corruption: An Unholy Cocktail of Outsider and Insider Threats | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)
• Art market participants guidance for money laundering supervision - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Money laundering supervision for high value dealers - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Understanding the Art Market and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations | Royal United Services Institute (rusi.org)

And, if you can’t get enough of Jessica, listen to the last KYC Decoded episode she joined us for - pKYC Miniseries: Part 3.

To take your anti-money laundering practices a step further, please feel free to get in touch with the Moody's team – we’d love to hear from you.