Illegal gold mining has overtaken cocaine as a revenue source for some Latin American criminal groups, driven by record gold prices, weaker enforcement and the ability to launder metal into legitimate supply chains using forged paperwork and false identities. FACT Coalition’s Julia Yansura points to the US “hand-carry” loophole—no $10,000-equivalent declaration for gold bars—as a key enabler, while WWF-UK/Themis data show over 80% of surveyed financial institutions face illegal-mining-linked illicit finance risk, yet 40% have taken no mitigating action. Ecuador’s 2026‑2029 National Security Plan now classifies illegal mining as a national security threat, and FACT urges tighter beneficial ownership rules and treating transnational illegal gold mining as a predicate money-laundering offence.

The Construction Equipment Association and Hire Association Europe have agreed reciprocal membership, linking CEA’s roughly 150 construction equipment OEMs, component and attachment manufacturers, distributors and service providers with HAE’s 700 hire-sector members, including about 100 OEMs and suppliers. The move formalises existing joint work on theft, asset management and taxation, giving manufacturers, suppliers and hire companies a more unified channel to influence equipment standards, security measures and fiscal policy. For plant owners and hirers, closer coordination could accelerate consistent approaches to asset tracking, anti-theft technologies and lifecycle management across the supply chain.

The UK’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, launched last year with a £725bn pipeline and a clearer forward view of major projects, is now under scrutiny as political uncertainty and fiscal pressure threaten delivery. Civil engineers are reassessing assumptions on long-term funding, procurement phasing and skills planning that were based on a decade-long, cross-sector programme covering transport, energy and water. Firms may need to stress-test workloads and balance-sheet exposure against possible delays, scope cuts or reprioritisation of large schemes.