Foreword

This 2005 RCMP Feature Focus offers an overview of emerging macro trends and issues around economic crime of interest to law enforcement, policy makers, the business sector and citizens. Its purpose is to inform and support strategic discussion, as well as raise awareness. Many of the concepts presented reflect complex activities with overlapping characteristics and evolving definitions, which provided a challenge as to how to best present these concepts and activities to the reader.

The document draws together a set of indicators which point to rising criminal activity in the areas of intellectual property, money laundering, securities violations and fraud perpetrated against corporations, consumers and government, both globally and in Canada.

There is also mounting evidence that international organized crime networks are expanding their operations into new and sophisticated methods of economic crime. These operations are increasingly complex and linked to other forms of crime such as drug trafficking and human smuggling.

The impacts of these activities are multiple and complex. They include substantial losses to: investors (individual as well as to pension plans and mutual funds); investor confidence; professional and institutional integrity; government revenues; and social investment.

With expanding interdependency, international attention is increasingly focused on cooperative and effective governance in ensuring the integrity of the global economic system, and in particular, on strategies contributing to the awareness and prevention of economic crime.

This document is ultimately a modest first step in building a knowledge base around a set of activities increasingly understood as economic crime. A long-term goal is to build this knowledge base in collaboration with other partners and stakeholders to support our collective response efforts and strategies. All comments and suggestions, on both the format and content of this document, are welcome and appreciated.

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the following groups and organizations contributing to this Environmental Scan Feature Focus on Economic Crime. We are indebted to their ongoing support to our scanning process.

• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
• Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
• Canadian Police College Library

We would also like to thank the following sections within the RCMP:

• Criminal Intelligence Directorate (CID)
• Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC)
• Federal Enforcement Branch
• Proceeds of Crime Branch
• Commercial Crime Branch
• Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) Program
• Office of Advisor for Ethics and Integrity
• PhoneBusters