The leaders of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a call to better combat organised crime and terrorism by improving global asset recovery efforts and increasing international cooperation efforts.
Combatting illicit finance
In a press release issued by Interpol, Cyril Gout, the Acting Executive Director of Police Services at Interpol said “illicit finance is not just one of many criminal threats – it is the enabler of them all”.
Pursuing an “economic and financial crime approach” is seen as being vital to reducing harm caused to societies safeguarding “financial stability and economic growth”. As stated by FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo, addressing these issues is “critical to financial stability, development, peace, and security”.
Proposed actions
For the 40 Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) member states participating in the Global Call to Action to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism: International Cooperation event held on the first day of the 34th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevent and Criminal Justice in Vienna, Austria from 19-23 May 2025, several steps were identified that could be taken to meet the dual challenge of combatting money laundering and terrorism financing and improving international cooperation:
- Capacity building
- Implementing effective risk-based strategies
- Public-private partnerships
- Innovating via new technology
A call to action
The proposed actions reflected the sentiments of UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly, who said: “This is a call to action to define innovative and scalable solutions to combat economic crime.”
Recent successes
Silver Notice
One of the steps taken recently to target and recover criminal assets is Interpol’s silver notice (“identification and tracing of criminal assets”), which launched in January 2025 and is currently in a pilot phase involving 52 of Interpol’s 196 member nations.
Practical Tools and Guidance
On matters of international cooperation, the three leaders identified recent practical tools and guidance aimed at assisting legal practitioners:
- The development of practical tools designed to assist practitioners in “working across jurisdictional lines”
- Planned for release later this year and developed in cooperation with the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, practical guidance will be released in 2025 that focuses on providing practitioners with critical channels for international collaboration.
Member State Cooperative Activities
Positive outcomes in combatting financial crime among multiple member states that had undertaken joint public-private partnerships.
Upcoming
The next meeting of CCPCJ members will be at the 15th UN Crime Congress, which is scheduled to take place from 25-30 April 2026 and is expected to reveal the outcomes of the calls to action from the 34th session of the CCPCJ.
Who
FATF
Established in 1989 by the Group of 7 (G7), the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental task force that functions as an international watchdog for global money laundering and terrorism financing.
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) enhances global security by providing its 196 member countries with access to a wide number of criminal databases.
UNODC
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) focuses on the abuse and trafficking of illegal drugs, crime, corruption, and terrorism.
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)
The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice is the principal policymaking body in the UN on the matter of crime prevention and criminal justice. The CCPCJ has 40 member states that are elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and are chaired by a bureau.
Key Takeaways
The call to action issued by the FATF, UNODC, and Interpol, in cooperation with the recent launch of the silver notice, hopes to spur governments around the world to increase their criminal asset recovery and international cooperation efforts, with the aim of improving global economic and social stability.
