The International Compliance Association (ICA) – the leading professional body for the global regulatory and financial crime compliance community and part of Wilmington plc – has formed a formal partnership with STOP THE TRAFFIK to promote best practice for the prevention of modern slavery to its global membership.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 40.3 million victims are trapped in modern day slavery which translates as 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world. STOP THE TRAFFIK, which is a global movement of individuals, communities and organisations fighting to prevent human trafficking aims to disrupt the ability for money to flow by delivering critical information to financial institutions that enable them to identify and tackle related criminal activity.
The agreement will see the development of modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) content incorporated into existing ICA qualifications in addition to the creation of a new MSHT course to help drive best practice in tackling these crimes.
Pekka Dare, Vice President, ICA confirms: “We are inspired by STOP THE TRAFFIK’s amazing work around the world. Having supported over 160,000 professionals with training and with over 17,000 members, we are in a unique position to help enhance relationships between the regulators, financial services firms and law enforcement to help undermine the business of trafficking.
“Increasingly, the compliance function is taking ownership of Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors and our members and partner organisations are at the forefront of examining new ways to cooperate to tackle global issues. We are looking forward to working with STOP THE TRAFFIK on several fronts including promoting joint events to raise awareness and facilitating cooperation across sectors as well as creating new, ground-breaking training and education material. We will also be awarding joint scholarships for ICA qualifications to support individuals engaged in MSHT prevention.”
Ruth Dearnley OBE, CEO, STOP THE TRAFFIK: “Human traffickers leave footprints within financial transactions, and compliance professionals are uniquely placed to recognise and report suspicious patterns of activity to the relevant authorities. To formalise a collaboration with ICA is a fantastic step forward in further raising awareness of the issue, and we look forward to taking proactive steps towards MSHT prevention with the help of ICA members across the world.”