For more than two decades, Nasdaq Verafin has focused on fighting financial crime — continually evolving to help institutions identify illicit activity hidden in the financial system. Human trafficking is not only a devastating human rights issue but also a critical predicate crime under FinCEN’s AML/CFT priorities, which highlight the most significant threats to the integrity of the global financial system.
These priorities underscore the urgent need for institutions worldwide to strengthen detection and reporting frameworks, as traffickers exploit cross-border payment channels and complex networks to move illicit funds. In fact, Nasdaq’s 2024 Global Financial Crime Report revealed that a staggering $347 billion in illicit funds was linked to human trafficking activity — illuminating the scale of this global challenge and the pressing need for advanced solutions to combat it.
The Challenge: Following the Money
Financial institutions are uniquely positioned to “follow the money,” but traditional transaction monitoring struggles to identify human trafficking activity within the financial system. Recognizing this gap, Nasdaq Verafin committed to developing typology-driven analytics to detect trafficking indicators in financial flows.
In developing typology-driven analytics, Nasdaq Verafin adopted a distinctive approach to addressing the challenge of combating human trafficking. We began by gaining a deep understanding of how traffickers operate and how their financial trail can expose these crimes. Through collaboration with experts, law enforcement and financial institutions, we built typologies that reveal the patterns behind trafficking networks.
From that foundation, we applied our strengths in big data, advanced analytics, and technology to create solutions that successfully detect human trafficking. These innovations not only brought critical awareness to this crime but also highlighted its role as a predicate offense linked to broader criminal activity such as money laundering and fraud.
Targeting Typologies: Breakthroughs That Defined Our Approach
Nasdaq Verafin pioneered Targeted Typology Analytics, moving beyond generic rules to focus on behaviors linked to trafficking — such as payments to adult classified websites, structured transactions, and front-company activity.
We combined core banking data, third-party intelligence and open-source data with consortium insights to create a rich investigative context. This allowed us to detect patterns that single institutions could not see alone.
Our analytics evolved with machine learning, Bayesian networks and AI-driven segmentation, reducing false positives and improving alert-to-case ratios. Recent enhancements expanded coverage to more sex industry websites, increasing detection.
Within our comprehensive financial crime solutions, human trafficking detection sits alongside capabilities for mule networks, elder financial abuse, terrorist financing and more, enabling institutions to assess risk holistically rather than in isolation.
Case Study: How New Haven Bank Tackled Human Trafficking Risk
New Haven Bank faced a growing challenge, identifying human trafficking indicators hidden in complex financial flows. Traditional monitoring tools produced generic alerts that lacked context, making it difficult for investigators to distinguish trafficking-related activity from legitimate transactions. The bank needed a solution that could uncover nuanced patterns and provide actionable intelligence without overwhelming compliance teams.
By implementing Nasdaq Verafin’s typology-driven analytics and leveraging consortium insights, New Haven Bank transformed its approach. Purpose-built models detected subtle behaviors linked to trafficking — such as structured payments and suspicious counterparties — while privacy-preserving network intelligence revealed connections beyond the bank’s own data. This combination enabled investigators to prioritize high-risk alerts, collaborate securely and escalate cases with confidence. The result: faster detection, stronger investigations and a proactive stance against exploitation — demonstrating how technology and collaboration can make a real difference in protecting vulnerable communities.
Ultimately, New Haven Bank’s decisive action paid off. After filing a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) based on Nasdaq Verafin’s insights, the bank observed the suspicious transactions cease soon after. This case study underscores the real-world impact of advanced detection — helping disrupt potential exploitation and reinforcing the bank’s commitment to safeguarding vulnerable communities.
The Next Frontier: Harnessing Consortium Networks to Combat Complex Crime
Human traffickers rarely operate independently — their activity is often intertwined with money laundering, organized fraud and broader criminal activities. Individual institutions see only part of the picture; consortium intelligence can provide the context and information needed to surface the hidden connections that matter for real-world‑ investigations.
Nasdaq Verafin analyzes consortium insights securely and discretely, delivering anonymized risk ratings to financial institutions without ever sharing Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This ensures institutions benefit from collective intelligence while maintaining rigorous compliance and customer confidentiality.
Consortium analytics enrich a single institution’s view with patterns learned across the network — so external counterparties, linkages and behaviors become visible. Shared intelligence closes the gap between the unknown and actionable, shrinking investigation time and enabling earlier interventions on suspicious activity.
Consortium insights help to continuously refine human trafficking related typologies — capturing new payment routes, mule behavior and geographic hotspots as they emerge.
Our Ongoing Commitment
Nasdaq Verafin’s journey began with a clear purpose — fight financial crime to protect vulnerable communities. Through typology-driven analytics, consortium intelligence and AI-powered technology, we turned detection from a daunting challenge into a proactive, collaborative effort — helping institutions identify trafficking activity, disrupt criminal networks at scale and protect individuals.
About the Author:
FOUAD HASSOUNEH
VP – Product Management, Nasdaq Verafin
Since joining Nasdaq Verafin in 2013, Fouad has excelled in a wide range of roles. In his current role as VP – Product Management, Fouad is responsible for defining the product vision, strategy, and roadmap. He helps Nasdaq Verafin deliver solutions that leverage artificial intelligence to effectively detect money laundering, while helping institutions maintain compliance. Working in close collaboration with Nasdaq Verafin colleagues, customers and senior stakeholders, Fouad applies his extensive knowledge of the AML/CFT and fraud landscapes to guide innovations and enhancements to product management and analytics. Fouad is passionate about creating value for customers and society by combating financial crime with cutting-edge technology.
