On June 14-17, 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded four days of hybrid meetings under the German Presidency of Dr. Marcus Pleyer.  The Plenary agreed on several strategic initiatives, which this article discusses.

On May 25, 2022, French authorities arrested Jean-Luc Martinez in connection with an investigation into illicit art trafficking.[1] Martinez currently serves as France’s ambassador for international cooperation on heritage. He previously served as the director and president of the Louvre Museum in Paris from 2013 to 2021.

On May 13, 2022, the United States Treasury Department issued its National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (2022 Strategy).  On June 22, 2022, the House Armed Services Committee Voted to include the Enablers Act in the National Defense Authorization Act, thereby increasing its chances of passing.

On June 20, 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the launch of a War Crimes Accountability Team to bolster the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to hold accountable those who have committed war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.  Garland made the announcement after meeting Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova in a surprise visit to Ukraine.

On March 10, 2022, the Parliament of the European Union was so alarmed by the number of assassinations of Mexican journalists in the first months of the year that it passed the Resolution on the situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico.  ^[1] The Resolution passed 607 votes to 2 with 73 abstentions, and referenced that “institutionalized and widespread corruption, abetted by a deficient judicial system, is engendering an endemic problem of impunity, with around 95% of journalists’ murders going unpunished.”  ^[2]

On June 2, 2022, Atul and Rajesh Gupta were arrested at their home in Dubai.[1]  The brothers are wanted in South Africa in connection with fraud and state capture.  They are being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pending extradition.  The arrests, and possible extraditions were made possible by newly established extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties between the UAE and South Africa. Their arrests may also be part of a larger policy shift currently underway in the UAE.

On June 17, 2022, the British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States.  Assange has fourteen days to appeal the decision.   The Home Secretary observed that “(t)he UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.”[1]

On June 6, 2022, Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, issued a report in response to the President’s Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.  The Report recommends expanding the U.S. government’s operational and capacity building efforts with international partners; increasing information sharing, coordination, and deconfliction; and closing regulatory gaps across jurisdictions.[1]

In April 2022, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) started a five-part campaign against human smuggling.[1]   At the Summit of the Americas, leaders from the Western Hemisphere presented the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which seeks to mobilize the entire region around bold actions around four key pillars to transform the Western Hemisphere’s approach to managing migration. [2]

On June 20, 2022, a readout of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting with leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic show efforts to increase security cooperation and engagement, including countering small arms trafficking.[1]  During March and April 2022, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)[2] and the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) hosted a Technical Meeting on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Organized Crime in the Fishing Industry.[3]   On September 2, 2021, INTERPOL and the Government of Barbados announced the signing of an agreement to pen an INTERPOL liaison office aimed at increasing Caribbean police cooperation and security.[4]