USD 3.6tn crisis: Global Financial Crime

Financial crime is no longer a cost of doing business, but a global problem affecting individuals, corporates, financial institutions and governments. Recent estimates put money laundering at USD 3.1tn and fraud at USD 465bn.

As we move through 2025, the landscape is shifting. Organised crime becomes more “professional” and technology acts both as a weapon for criminals and shield for institutions. With the burden of liability increasing on banks, PSPs, and corporate services providers, investment is required.

How big is global money laundering?

According to NASDAQ, USD 3.1tn illicit money laundering flowed through the global financial system in 2023.

Money laundering crimes included USD 783bn drug trafficking, USD 347bn human trafficking, and USD 12bn terrorist financing.

NB: money flowing in/out of banking systems, exclude transactions in cryptocurrencies.

How big is global fraud?

NASDAQ estimate USD 485.6bn was lost to fraud scams in 2023. 

Losses are likely to be significantly higher as the true number and value of crimes are not reported.

NB: does not include tax evasion, corruption, bribery, embezzlement, business lost to counterfeit goods, or industrial espionage.

Global problem, regional variations

Financial crime is a global problem: 

	Money Laundering	Fraud
Americas	USD 1.1tn	USD 151bn
EMEA	USD 952bn	USD 113bn
APAC	USD 1.1tn	USD 221bn

Source: NASDAQ

Who pays for financial crime?

NASDAQ estimate financial institutions lost USD 442bn to payments, cheque and credit card fraud in 2023. Losses reduce funds available to investors, and result in increased charges and lower investment in service.

Individuals lost USD 43.6bn to scams, reducing the abilityto consume, invest or afford essential items. The impact on victim well-being and trust in financial systems is unquantifiable.

Trends in financial crime: Evolving threats

Criminals are no longer hacking and scamming, Interpol see entire ecosystems created:

Technology	AI deepfakes enable criminals to conceal their identity, deceive victims, and impersonate others. Fraud becomes real-time and transnational, increasing the incentives for criminals.
Payment Fraud	Complex payment routing seeks to spoof controls in traditional banking and payments. Crypto and stablecoin payments bipass money laundering controls.
Professional Crime	Criminals gain access to expertise, infrastructure and financial services, in some cases sharing with other bad actors. State–sponsored crime increases.
Synthetic Identity	Fake names, corporations, and documentation bipass AML/CTF, sanctions, and PEP checks.

How regulators fight financial crime

Criminals seek grey areas and adapt, while Regulators face a lengthy cycle to pass laws, and enforcement agencies must act carefully. This mismatch challenges the financial crime toolkit of regualtors:

• Sanctions lists.
• PEP lists.
• Anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
• Counter-terrorism finance (CTF) rules.
• Increased data sharing and common blacklists.
• Expanding scope to cover gatekeepers like accountancy to legal.
• Tougher standards for banks, payment, crypto, and investment firms when applying for licenses.
• More enforcements and higher penalties for non-compliance.

A significant recent shift is from “compliance to liability”. Laws such as the UK’s Authorised Push Payment (APP) now requires financial institutions to reimburse fraud victims quickly and share liability with the sending/receiving institution. This puts a financial burden squarely on the institutions, for losses and investment in preventative technology. 

How financial institutions fight financial crime

Fighting financial crime requires financial insitutions to build multiple “lines of defence” integrating policy, process, advanced technology, and human skills:

• AML/CTF, sanctions and PEP checks.
• AI-powered regulatory technology for document and user verification.
• Cybersecurity to prevent phishing, penetration, etc.
• Warning payment initiators if an outbound payment looks suspicious (ML analyses prior patterns).
• Asking payment initiators for Verification of Payee (VoP) and two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Transaction screening of in/outbound payments and velocity checks on card processing (ML analyses prior patterns).
• Implementing additional controls across operations, compliance, risk, and internal audit.
• Reviewing risk more frequently.
• Increased co-operation among industry.
• Increased data sharing and common blacklists.
• Exiting high-risk products and business lines.

Significant investment is occuring in A.I. and RegTech solutions.

How Sure FinTech Helps

Sure FinTech provides a range of services to help clients fight financial crime:

Financial Institutions	FinTechs	Governments
Develop skills, technology and processes to defend at scale, and be agile to change.	Understand buyer needs and behaviours, meet qualified buyers.	Understand how money laundering and fraud work, develop effective responses.

Contact Us today for a free consultation.