ABN AMRO joins Illegal Wildlife Trade Financial Taskforce

News article

Sustainability

29 January 2019, 15:27 pm

Brigitte Seegers

Public Affairs and Manager International Communications

Illegal wildlife trade is still a highly profitable form of crime. Banks can play a role as a gatekeeper to prevent illicit funds derived from this type of trade from entering the financial system.

To help combat illegal wildlife trade, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, founded the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Financial Taskforce in October 2018. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, CEO Kees van Dijkhuizen promised Prince William that ABN AMRO would be the first Dutch bank to commit to the IWT Financial Taskforce.

Kees van Dijkhuizen: “The IWT Financial Taskforce is doing good work in combatting illegal wildlife trade, and I’m happy to pledge our commitment to it.”

By joining the IWT Financial Taskforce, ABN AMRO commits itself to sharing information and collaborating with the authorities. In 2016, the bank released an Animal Welfare Statement setting out its approach to preventing adverse impacts on animal welfare. The Statement also included a list of exclusions