GI-TOC’s policy brief warns illicit gold fuels global crime through opaque supply chains and financial hubs, urging the UK ahead of the Illicit Finance Summit to replace pledges with enforceable transparency and AML action

The recommendations highlight how illicit gold mining and trade exploit weaknesses in financial regulation, customs oversight, and responsible sourcing frameworks, enabling criminal actors to launder proceeds through global gold markets and financial centres such as London. The paper also urges governments to criminalise illicit gold trading as a predicate money laundering offence, regulate professional enablers, strengthen suspicious activity reporting guidance, and improve international cooperation and traceability across gold supply…