Newsletter | September 2016 | Issue 1
Director’s Update: Tackling Financial Crime and Terrorist Financing
Welcome to the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies first newsletter. Founded in December 2014 at RUSI, CFCS has since
addressed a broad range of topics and worked with a growing network of partners to advance efforts to tackle financial crime and terrorist
financing.
As the reports highlighted below show, our research output has focused on devising new models for information sharing and public/
private partnership. The Centre will continue to publish papers presenting concrete recommendations for policymakers and FATF.
On countering terrorist financing (CTF), we recently convened a workshop at the European Parliament to discuss the EU’s CTF Action Plan
and presented at the Southeast Asia and Australia CTF Summit where the Regional Risk Assessment of Terrorist Financing was launched.
We believe that it is time to rethink approaches to CTF as the shape of the threat, financial landscape and response set has changed
significantly since the existing approach was developed following 9/11.
Mirroring the priorities of the UK’s Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce, our work on the role of finance in disrupting human
trafficking continues alongside our research into the role of London as an enabler for the laundering of the proceeds of corruption.
Finally, the Centre is partnering with RUSI’s environmental crime and nuclear policy programmes to explore the financial disruption of
illegal wildlife trafficking in East Africa and approaches to counter-proliferation finance.
We will soon be embarking on exciting new research on the financial crime impact of FinTech and RegTech as well as the role social
media can play in disrupting financial crime. We will also be holding an event considering ‘Future Financial Crime Risks’ for the financial
sector.
Tom Keatinge, Director, RUSI Centre for Financial Crime and Security
41st Recommendation
Recent Reports
The Centre’s blog this month explores proposals for stronger
action against money launderers and terrorism financers by:
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Discussing the Failure to Police the EU’s Financial Border
Emphasising how Counter-Daesh Financing Has Been a
Convenient Distraction
Assessing the Home Affairs Committee Report on
Recovering Criminal Assets
Analysing the impact of cybercrime on financial institutions
Events
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‘The Financing of Terrorism:
Challenges and Response
Methods’ co-hosted by
CFCS/RUSI at the European
Parliament on 30 June
Organised an APG Counter
Proliferation Finance
Conference showcasing
RUSI’s ‘Out of Sight, Out of
Mind’ report to regional and
international experts
CFCS will present initial
findings from its ‘The
Cartography of Compliance’
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study as well as take part
in panels on illegal wildlife
trafficking, human trafficking
and others at the Cambridge
Economic Crime Symposium.
Projects
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Rethinking Terrorism
Financing – Engaging with
public and private sectors’
and gather insights into the
various ways in which to
improve responses this issue.
Contact [email protected]
New Technologies and
Financial Crime – A new
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Public–Private Security Cooperation: From Cyber to Financial
Crime
New best practise insights into public and private sectors
cooperation on money laundering and cyber security issues
Two new analysis pieces on Information Sharing examining
instruments and data protection challenges
Out of Sight, Out of Mind? A Review of Efforts to Counter
Proliferation Finance
Calling for greater collaboration between the public and private
sectors to tackle this important global issue
research project on ’FinTech’,
’Regtech’ and ‘the use of
social media as FININT‘in
September 2016. Contact:
[email protected]
In the News
Future Financial Crime – We
will consider the issue of
future financial crime risks:
its evolving nature; predicate
crimes; the development
of the banking operating
environment (including geopolitical factors); the future
nature of financial services,
and the implications for
financial crime compliance.
Co-op Bank Closes More
Accounts Belonging to
Charitable Organisations, The
Independent, 31 May, 2016
Terrorist Suspects in Europe
Got Welfare Benefits While
Plotting Attacks, Wall Street
Journal, 4 Aug, 2016
Panama Papers: Putin
Associates Linked to ‘Money
Laundering’, BBC News, 3 April,
2016
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies | RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET | @CFCS_RUSI | [email protected] | cfcs.london