One of the core recommendations for financial institutions is to conduct a risk assessment to identify the specific IWT related risks associated with their unique business. Firms should then use this to inform their risk appetite and suite of policies, procedures, systems and tools to help them detect any potential linkages to IWT.
Many financial institutions will already have a template for conducting Business Risk Assessments and this can and should be adapted to incorporate specific IWT threats and typologies. There are many external models and systems for financial institutions to choose from.
A good example is from the United for Wildlife Financial Taskforce (UfW), who have developed a specific IWT risk assessment tool which enables financial institutions to carry out this assessment. UfW is an organisation led by The Duke of Cambridge and has 43 global financial institutions playing a crucial role in the fight against IWT. Their Risk Assessment is a vital part of this process and includes a pre-assessment which enables organisations to identify whether their exposure is sufficient that a full risk assessment should be completed.
