Six Financial Institutions Advance New Standards for Combating Human Trafficking, Child Exploitation, Elder Fraud, and Scams

Business Wire

Eagle Freedom Alliance (EFA) today recognized six financial institutions for their leadership in adopting The Knoble’s Human Crime Specialist (HCS) program, a specialized framework designed to equip financial professionals with the knowledge, tools, and organizational capabilities necessary to identify and disrupt financial activity connected to human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, elder fraud, scams, and other forms of human crime.

The recognition reflects a broader shift occurring across the financial sector. Crimes that were once viewed primarily as law enforcement issues are increasingly being recognized as financial system issues. Criminal enterprises depend on financial infrastructure to operate, requiring accounts, payment systems, transactions, and financial networks to move money, conceal activity, and scale operations.

As regulatory expectations increase, law enforcement capabilities advance, and public scrutiny intensifies, financial institutions are facing growing pressure to strengthen their ability to identify and respond to illicit activity flowing through their systems.

Many institutions are discovering they are uniquely positioned to identify indicators of exploitation, scams, elder fraud, and other forms of human crime through transaction activity, customer interactions, frontline observations, and investigative processes. In many cases, financial institutions represent one of the earliest opportunities to detect suspicious activity before harm escalates.

The Human Crime Specialist program was developed by The Knoble to help financial institutions move beyond traditional compliance approaches and build organizational capabilities across five key domains:

Human Crime Risk Management
Organizational Policy Development
Program Execution and Response
Industry Collaboration and Alignment
Community and Customer Safeguarding

Participating institutions are helping establish new standards for how financial organizations can proactively address risks associated with human trafficking, child exploitation, elder fraud, and scams.

The program recognizes that combating human crime requires more than technology alone. Effective programs depend on trained employees, consistent processes, strong escalation pathways, cross-functional collaboration, executive support, and partnerships with law enforcement, nonprofit organizations, industry groups, and government agencies. Together, these capabilities help transform awareness into action.

“The fight against human exploitation requires scalable, systemic solutions,” said Wesley Lyons, Founder of Eagle Freedom Alliance and General Partner at Eagle Venture Fund.

“These institutions are deploying specialized training that turns the financial system into an active barrier against human trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud. Their commitment to developing systemic change agents internally sets a benchmark that we hope every major financial institution will emulate in the coming year.”

Lyons added:

“True leadership means acting before you are forced to. The adoption of the Human Crime Specialist program demonstrates that corporate success and human dignity can go hand in hand. As shareholders, we applaud these institutions for proactively protecting vulnerable populations while helping advance a broader industry movement toward accountability.”

Anthony Powell, Vice President and Operational Excellence Leader at Truist, said:

“Financial institutions play a critical role in identifying and disrupting human crimes, including human trafficking, scams, elder fraud, and other forms of exploitation. Banks are often the first or last line of defense before funds are transferred, withdrawn, or lost.

What surprised us most was that building an effective human crime program requires far more than technology alone. Success depends on trained employees, consistent processes, strong escalation pathways, leadership support, and collaboration across the industry. When employees understand the signs of human crime and feel empowered to act, financial institutions can become a powerful force for protecting vulnerable individuals and disrupting criminal networks.”

The recognition comes amid growing awareness that financial institutions occupy a uniquely influential position within the fight against exploitation. Criminal enterprises rely on financial systems to move money, scale operations, and conceal illicit activity. As a result, banks increasingly represent one of the earliest opportunities to detect indicators of trafficking, child exploitation, elder fraud, scams, and other forms of human crime before harm escalates.

Several participating institutions have also been involved in collaborative initiatives such as Project Umbra, demonstrating how shared intelligence, specialized training, and cross-sector cooperation can strengthen efforts to identify and disrupt illicit activity connected to exploitation.

By implementing the Human Crime Specialist framework, participating institutions are helping transform financial systems from passive transaction processors into active safeguards against exploitation.

Eagle Freedom Alliance believes these institutions are helping establish a new model of accountability, one that recognizes financial institutions not only as stewards of capital, but as critical partners in protecting vulnerable populations, strengthening public trust, and disrupting criminal activity at scale.

Read the Shareholder Letters

What does leadership look like when exploitation becomes a financial system issue?

Read the shareholder letters recognizing participating institutions and see how financial institutions are helping transform the financial system into an active barrier against exploitation.

https://www.eagleventurefund.com/freedom-alliance

The letters highlight why these institutions are being recognized and how they are helping establish a new standard for leadership across the financial sector.

About Eagle Freedom Alliance

Eagle Freedom Alliance is the voice of the counter-human trafficking movement to the public markets.

While effective, scalable solutions exist, public companies and investors often lack trusted ways to identify what works and engage responsibly. Eagle Freedom Alliance bridges that gap by elevating proven solutions, amplifying leadership, and encouraging adoption through the voice of investors.

Through shareholder engagement, public recognition, and market education, Eagle Freedom Alliance advocates for solutions that help prevent exploitation while strengthening accountability across industries.

About The Knoble

The Knoble is a global alliance of financial professionals, institutions, technology leaders, and law enforcement partners dedicated to protecting vulnerable populations from human crime through innovation, collaboration, and financial system engagement.