BRICS New Delhi Declaration Calls for Stronger Action on Illicit Financial Flows and Scam Networks

BRICS leaders have adopted the 2026 New Delhi Declaration, placing illicit financial flows, terrorist financing, drug-proceeds laundering, virtual assets and organised scam networks among the financial-crime risks requiring stronger cross-border cooperation.

The declaration was adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12 September 2026. In its financial-crime language, the group expressed concern over money laundering, financing of terrorism, corruption, financial fraud by organised crime, illegal virtual-asset flows and attempts to circumvent domestic regulatory frameworks.

Scam compounds and cross-border financial crime

The declaration gives particular attention to organised scam networks, including cross-border fraud operations and so-called scam compounds. BRICS members said these networks exploit digital technologies, payment systems and people in vulnerable situations, and called for coordinated action to dismantle them, trace and recover criminal proceeds and protect victims.

It also calls for deeper cooperation among customs authorities, financial intelligence units, law-enforcement agencies, tax authorities and supervisors. The declaration highlights information-sharing, risk-based approaches, data analytics and capacity-building as tools for identifying and disrupting laundering schemes.

Notably, the text extends this focus beyond conventional banking channels. It refers to misuse of invoicing practices, professional services and cross-border contractual arrangements, alongside illegal virtual-asset flows and emerging payment methods. That makes the declaration relevant to both financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses involved in cross-border transactions.

A policy commitment rather than a new AML rule

The New Delhi Declaration is a multilateral political commitment, not a directly enforceable AML/CFT regulation. It does not itself create new customer due diligence, reporting or transaction-monitoring obligations for regulated firms.

Its significance is instead in the direction of cooperation. BRICS members are signalling greater emphasis on operational coordination across FIUs, law enforcement, customs, tax and supervisory authorities, with organised scams and technology-enabled financial crime increasingly treated as interconnected AML/CFT issues.

The language is also notable because it links fraud proceeds, virtual assets, professional services and cross-border trade mechanisms within the same illicit-finance framework. For compliance teams, that reinforces the growing regulatory expectation that fraud risk, money laundering risk and cross-border financial-crime typologies should not be assessed in isolation.

Sources

Prime Minister’s Office of India — BRICS New Delhi Declaration: Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability, 12 September 2026.

Reuters — BRICS adopts joint declaration, urges ‘maximum restraint’ in Mideast, 12 September 2026.