Block Hosts Second Quarterly Law Enforcement Summit in Washington, D.C.

We recently hosted our second quarterly Law Enforcement Summit to bring together Block legal and compliance leaders, law enforcement agencies, and NGOs for thoughtful discussions on the ever-evolving financial crimes threat landscape.

Identifying illicit activity on financial platforms can be difficult, especially when we’re only looking at one piece of the puzzle. Partnerships with law enforcement and other third parties are critical in gaining the full picture of activity on our platform, disrupting the illicit financial gain, and continuing to make our platforms and the larger ecosystem safe for customers. Given illicit activity often extends across multiple independent platforms, these summits serve to expand the partnerships in a way that enables all sides to work together more effectively and further open lines of communication so that we can apply learnings to our monitoring and detection capabilities. These communications are reciprocal and give us a valuable channel to alert law enforcement of new typologies or user behaviors so they can initiate formal investigations.

With over 80 attendees, the audience comprised representatives from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Department of Justice (DOJ), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Tech Coalition, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), and local police departments, among others. Block participants included leaders from our Financial Crimes, Global Intelligence, Special Investigations, Law Enforcement Response, Counsel Investigations teams, and our Chief Compliance Officer.

Members from Block Financial Crimes Compliance teams for Square and Cash App and the Law Enforcement Response Team (LERT) presented overviews of our various lines of business and our compliance programs, and provided technical training and awareness on our subpoena process to help generate more effective leads for quality internal investigations. Additionally, the team shared Block’s 2024 compliance and risk strategies, including innovative new technologies, and demonstrated our strategic focus on combating illicit activity on our platforms while using the opportunity to listen and learn from our partners who shared their expertise. The event also provided a forum for all parties to provide insight and feedback into the Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) filing investigation and subpoena processes, as well as discussion around emerging trends in financial crime.

“As one of ICMEC’s financial and tech partners, our collaboration with Block has proven fruitful on both sides. It was fantastic to hear about Block's success stories in partnering with law enforcement and third party organizations in detecting and shutting down crime on their platforms,” said Bob Cunningham, President and CEO, International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. “Learning about Block's internal integration across teams was also inspiring. Overall, the summit was a success, and I’m excited to continue partnering on initiatives that support building a safer world for children.”

“I was encouraged to see the investment that Block has made in improving its capacity to prevent, detect, and report payments relating to crimes like the sexual exploitation of children,” said Sean Litton, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Tech Coalition. “I am impressed by the experienced compliance, intelligence, and investigations teams they have put together and their commitment to proactive engagement. I look forward to their continued work to help keep children safe.”

Block plans to host these summits on a quarterly basis to develop and strengthen key partnerships with law enforcement and NGOs across the country. The next event will be hosted in Q3, with more details to follow soon.