Assessment of Crowdfunding Risks and Threats in Order to Counteract the Legalization (Laundering) of Criminal Proceeds and the Financing of Terrorism

The rapid development of digital financial technologies poses new challenges in the area of combating money laundering (AML) and the financing of terrorism (TF). Crowdfunding is one of such non-traditional digital financing tools, representing new ML and FT risks. The main tool to counter legalization is a risk-based approach. Despite the fact that the FATF has developed a generally accepted methodology for assessing the risks of ML and FT, it is not a dogma and requires adaptation to new tools. Crowdfunding is one of the most promising digital financial instruments, but at the same time it is one of the most risky and insufficiently studied instruments in terms of ML and FT. Therefore, the article has explored and identified the features of crowdfunding as a new digital financing instrument for assessing its risks and threats in order to counter ML and TF (using the example of the Russian Federation and France). Recommendations on the areas of assessment, the formation of lists of risks of crowdfunding and their classification are offered. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.