Regulate Smarter Continues “Smarter Regulation Now” Video Series with Rana Saoud

Regulate Smarter is continuing its “Smarter Regulation Now” video series with Rana Saoud, an expert on illicit trade and intellectual property protection who spent nearly 30 years with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the principal investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Watch the third installment here.

During her career at HSI, Saoud held several leadership roles focused on global trade investigations, counterfeit goods, and transnational criminal networks. In the latest episode, she discusses how illicit markets do more than harm legitimate American businesses—they fuel criminal enterprises operating across borders.

“When Americans are purchasing counterfeit goods, they are taking money from American companies and American jobs,” Saoud says. “That money is going to countries that allow criminal activity to continue, especially if it harms the United States.”

Saoud explains that counterfeit goods are not simply a consumer issue or a violation of intellectual property rights. They are part of a broader illicit economy that diverts revenue away from legitimate businesses, undermines American innovation, and provides funding for criminal organizations.

Saoud argues that smarter regulation and stronger enforcement are essential to protecting American businesses, consumers, and communities while disrupting the criminal networks that profit from counterfeit trade.

Watch the full interview with Rana Saoud as part of Regulate Smarter’s “Smarter Regulation Now” series to learn more about the connection between illicit trade, organized crime, and the importance of effective enforcement strategies.

RANA SAOUD: When Americans are purchasing counterfeit goods, they are taking money from American companies and American jobs and that money is going to countries that allow criminal activity to continue, especially if it harms the United States. For example, in China, a lot of times they will allow these counterfeiters and illicit producers to work in that economy because it keeps those individuals off the street from committing violent crimes and then they can export that violent crime to the United States.