The number of suspicious reports to the financial intelligence unit attached to the Ministry of the Economy, Tracfin, responsible in particular for detecting money laundering and the financing of terrorism, reached a record in 2023, with a particularly strong increase in the cryptoasset sector.
In total, 186,556 reports relating to suspicious financial transactions were transmitted to Tracfin, Bercy announced on Thursday. The number is up 15% over one year, and marks a seven-fold increase in ten years.
Last year, 94% of declarations came from the financial sector, particularly banks – a stable proportion compared to the last ten years. Establishments are required to report suspicions of illicit activities.
The increase in declarations from digital asset service providers (PSAN), platforms for buying and selling digital assets such as bitcoin, was particularly strong (+339%), while remaining marginal, representing only 0.8% of financial sector declarations.
Most often, the declarations relate to suspicions of scams, use of false documents as well as the purchase of child pornography content, according to the annual report, which nevertheless points to the need to improve the quality of the declarations.
Electronic money establishments, which can only manage electronic transactions but not in cash, represent 6% of financial sector declarations, with an increase of 146% over one year. This includes, for example, prepaid cards.
The growing number of declarations from these sectors is in line with the very high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing identified for these activities, notes Tracfin.
Crowdfunding platforms (including donation pots) saw their number of declarations increase by 10%, 406 reports, two thirds of which relate to a risk of financing terrorism.
The volume of suspicious reports from the non-financial sector represents around 6% of the total, with 11,525 reports, an increase of 8% compared to the previous year, explains Tracfin in its annual report. An increase notably due to declarations from notaries, casinos and gaming clubs.
The former represent 28% of declarations from the non-financial sector, with reports mainly relating to real estate transactions.
The main alert criteria are the absence of a loan (criterion in two thirds of declarations) but also a doubt about the origin of the funds (criterion in 41% of declarations), according to Tracfin.
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