The financial aspects of the trade in counterfeit products

This collection contains transcripts or notes from interviews with experts on the financial aspects of the trade in counterfeit products. This exploratory project's key objectives have been to: (1) identify the various forms and sources of financing that are being used to trade in counterfeit goods, payment settlements, costs for doing business, profits and investment of profits, (2) examine how the Internet and electronic commerce presents financial opportunities for counterfeiters and to explore how these online processes interact with the material trade in counterfeit products and (3) consider the role of licit financial and business structures in relation to the illicit trade in counterfeit products.
<p>The trade in counterfeit goods is growing and has been linked to the operations of transnational organised crime (TOC). Much work and popular scrutiny has examined these flows of illicit goods. Less scrutinised are the financial mechanisms that enable them. Drawing upon cross-disciplinary research expertise in social sciences (criminology and sociology) the humanities (law and geography), and working in collaboration with practitioners from the National Trading Standards e-Crime Team (NSeCT), the research investigates the financing of the trade in counterfeit goods. The study focuses specifically on financing and financing-related aspects of illicit markets in material counterfeit goods. Furthermore, while focusing on the UK context, it contributes to our understanding of TOC by examining financial and physical flows in the counterfeit trade over borders. </p>

本数据集收录了针对假冒商品贸易金融维度开展的专家访谈实录与研究笔记。本探索性项目的核心目标包括：（1）厘清假冒商品贸易所涉各类融资形式与资金来源、支付结算方式、经营成本、利润及利润再投资模式；（2）探究互联网与电子商务为造假者提供的金融机遇，并剖析此类线上流程与实体假冒商品贸易的互动机制；（3）探讨合法金融与商业结构在假冒商品非法贸易中所扮演的角色。

假冒商品贸易规模持续扩张，且与跨国有组织犯罪（Transnational Organized Crime, TOC）的运作存在关联。现有大量研究与公众关注均聚焦于这类非法商品的流转路径，而支撑其运作的金融机制却较少受到审视。本研究依托社会科学（犯罪学与社会学）、人文学科（法学与地理学）的跨学科研究专长，并联合国家贸易标准电子犯罪工作组（National Trading Standards e-Crime Team, NSeCT）的实务人员，对假冒商品贸易的融资模式展开探究。本研究特别聚焦实体假冒商品非法市场的融资及其相关维度。此外，尽管本研究以英国为研究语境，但通过剖析跨境假冒商品贸易中的资金与实体流转路径，可为我们深化对跨国有组织犯罪的认知提供助力。