3021/2025/WEB 'Chinese Underground Banking'

Activity on 23 Sept 2025

Chinese Underground Banking

The aim of this webinar is to strengthen the understanding of illegal money transfer systems of Chinese Organised Crime Groups and share contemporary investigation and enforcement practices via the demonstration of case studies and investigative tactics.

Chinese underground banking systems, often referred to as shadow banking structures, operate outside of regulated financial frameworks and pose significant challenges to law enforcement and financial authorities. These informal money transfer systems are exploited by organised crime groups, corrupt officials, and tax evaders, to launder proceeds of crime, circumvent currency controls, and finance illicit activities across borders. The scale and complexity of these networks undermine financial integrity, distort legal economies, and weaken trust in international regulatory systems.

The illegal operations manifest in multiple ways, including trade-based money laundering schemes, mirror transactions, the use of front companies and shell structures, falsified invoices, and the exploitation of legitimate business channels to disguise illicit financial flows. Increasingly, underground bankers combine traditional methods with modern financial technologies, including cryptocurrencies and online platforms, which makes detection and enforcement even more challenging.

This webinar will bring together financial crime investigators, customs officials, and policy experts to share experiences and investigative practices from across Europe and beyond. Participants will engage in an in-depth discussion on the most pressing challenges in detecting and disrupting underground banking networks, with the sole focus on Chinese-operated systems.

By the end of this webinar, the audience will be able to:

• Recognise typical structure and functioning of Chinese underground banking systems;
• Identify key intelligence sources and innovative investigative methods;
• Discuss methods of financial tracing;
• Debate possibilities and difficulties of law enforcement cooperation within the EU;
• Improve cooperation and information sharing across borders.

EMPACT training activity

Combating new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Details

Time

Tuesday, 23 September at 10:00 CEST

Target audience

• Law enforcement officials specialised in financial investigations, money laundering, and economic crimes;
• Law enforcement officials specialised in any sort of organised crime;
• Staff of Financial Intelligence Units;
• Prosecutors and judges.