On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order authorizing the Secretary of State to designate international narcotics cartels and other transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Thirteen TCOs, all based in Latin America or Haiti, have since been designated as FTOs. A company dealing with an FTO can find itself facing criminal and civil consequences much more severe than those for other types of criminal activity. During a panel discussion at the New York City Bar’s International White Collar Crime Symposium 2025, experts discussed the import of these designations and debated their virtues and harms. This article summarizes their insights. See “How Designating TCOs As Terrorist Organizations Creates Risks for Financial Institutions and Beyond” (May 21, 2025).