New Research - “Exploring the Threat of Chinese Professional Money Laundering Organisations”

We’re pleased to announce new SOC ACE Research led by Kathryn Westmore with Maria Nizzero of the Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) at RUSI that is exploring whether the threat posed by Chinese Professional Money Laundering Organisations should be considered alongside other state threats, and whether policy responses to money laundering need to change to build resilience against them.

Over the last ten years, awareness has grown of the role of Chinese Professional Money Laundering Organisations (PMLOs) in facilitating transnational crime and the threat that this poses to countries in the West. The emergence of Chinese PLMOs, commonly engaged in Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML), Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS; sometimes referred to as ‘underground banking’), and infiltration of financial institutions, is not just a result of the lucrative global trade in drugs but is closely intertwined with political considerations.

The rise of Chinese PMLOs seems to have gone hand in hand with policy decisions of the Chinese state, notably China’s capital controls which have prevented the free flow of money out of the country. Chinese PMLOs provide ways in which Chinese residents can move money globally, quickly and discreetly. To date, however, there has been little research carried out to understand the links between Chinese PMLOs and the Chinese state, including the extent to which, if at all, the transnational activity of Chinese PMLOs should be considered alongside other state threats.

While there is an increasing body of evidence relating to how Chinese PMLOs operate in the US and Canada, much less is understood about its extent outside North America. This project therefore has two objectives. Firstly, to build an evidence base as to how the threat posed by Chinese PMLOs has evolved by comparing operations of established Chinese PMLOs in the US/Canada with the more nascent operations seen in Europe and secondly, seeks to explore the role of Chinese PMLOs in the context of Chinese state activity.

With work well underway, research findings will look to be available in Spring 2025.