STR: Suspicious Transaction Report

Why disruption, intelligence and genuine public–private partnership matter more than promises to eliminate every terrorist dollar. Terrorism may have slipped down the political agenda, but its financing remains a critical national security challenge. Attacks can be inexpensive, but terrorist organisations still require money and resources to recruit, communicate, travel, operate and sustain their...

How Iran uses proxies, shadow banking and criminal cut-outs to fund external operations and evade sanctions. Iranian-linked plots, surveillance activity and intimidation operations are drawing growing concern across Europe. But behind these activities sits a wider financial and logistical architecture that allows Tehran and its proxies to move money, evade sanctions and support operations abroad....

How Chinese money laundering organisations exploit capital controls, criminal cash and informal value transfer systems to move illicit wealth across borders. Chinese money laundering organisations have become a growing concern for law enforcement, policymakers and the private sector. But how do these networks operate, why are they attractive to organised crime groups, and what makes the UK vulnera...

Money, media and influence networks are turning political grievances into engines of power and profit. Populist movements are reshaping politics across Europe and North America. But beyond the rhetoric, rallies and social media campaigns lays a critical question: who is funding this political transformation – and why? Host Tom Keatinge is joined in this latest episode by Liam Byrne MP, author of W...

Crypto use is central to Russia's evasion of sanctions aimed at restricting its military procurement. It is past time for action. Over the past four years, sanctions against the financing and resourcing of the Russian military have been a key pillar of the West's response to the Kremlin's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. But as pressure has mounted on the traditional financial system, a paral...

The long-derided corporate registry is finally coming into its own as a central player in confronting the UK's role in global illicit finance. When the UK government opened its company register – Companies House – to public scrutiny in 2015, campaigners and journalists cheered. But as everyone dug into the data this revealed, the extent to which the register had become a central tool in global cor...

Laundering money has never been easier, cheaper, or more secure for bad actors, so why do we persist with our current response? In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge is joined by journalist Oliver Bullough to discuss his latest book, 'Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won', which reveals the seeming futility of the current approach to fighting financial crime. Those who work in...

Motivation, coordination and making the right choices has brought a remarkable turnaround in the financial crime fighting fortunes of Latvia. If you are involved in the fight against financial crime in Latvia then 2018, the year of the country's last FATF assessment, is a date that is both infamous and inspiring. That is certainly the case for Toms Platacis and Paulis Iljenkovs, Head and Deputy He...

How has Russia managed to keep its oil exports flowing despite sanctions and what can governments do to more effectively disrupt the shadow fleet? As Russia adapts its energy exports to withstand sanctions pressure, a parallel maritime system has emerged to keep oil flowing across global markets. In this episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report, CFS Research Fellow Gonzalo Saiz is joined by Mi...

Following Russia's full-scale invasion, Western governments issued a slew of sanctions against oligarchs. But to what end? What's been achieved, and what happens next? Over the past decade, the UK has grappled with its reputation as 'Londongrad': a home for oligarchs – most often from Russia – to park and enjoy their money. Successive governments resisted calls for action against these individuals...

Marking four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we examine how EU sanctions have evolved, expanded and intensified enforcement. As we mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this episode explores how EU sanctions on Russia have evolved from an emergency political response into the most extensive and technically sophisticated sanctions regime in the...

As the UK brings forward new electoral legislation, what should the government do about crypto donations, and does it really understand the risks? Discussion about cryptocurrencies is often polarised. Nowhere is this more so the case than in the ongoing discussion about the inclusion – or not – of cryptocurrency for donations to political parties in the UK. In this latest episode of the STR podcas...

Financing is a critical yet overlooked element of Russian sabotage in Europe, shaping how operations unfold and where they can be disrupted.   In this latest STR episode, host Kinga  Redłowska  is joined by CFS Director Tom Keatinge and CFS Senior Associate Fellow Matthew Redhead to review the team's  recent report on how Russian sabotage  campaigns are funded, and why this important angle has bee...

Over two billion pounds from the sale of Chelsea FC languishes frozen in a UK bank account. Why is that, and what happens next? Nick Purewal, news and sports journalist, and author of 'Sanctioned: The Inside Story of the Sale of Chelsea FC' joins host Tom Keatinge to explore the sanctioning of Roman Abramovich by the UK following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the consequences for on...

In a new book, author Anton Moiseienko argues that designing the right incentives will determine the future success of financial crime fighting. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge is joined by former CFS colleague Anton Moiseienko, who is now a Senior Lecturer and Research Director at the Australian National University Law School in Canberra. They discuss Anton's new book...

Jeffrey Robinson writer, storyteller, and passionate believer joins host Tom Keatinge to think the unthinkable and challenge the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) status quo. After all these years of effort to combat economic crime, are we so convinced that our approach is the right one that we are unwilling to challenge the status quo? Acknowledging that we are on the wrong path is hard to do, particul...

Gonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund speak with host Tom Keatinge about how online gaming might be exploited by extremist and terrorist actors. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge caught up with CFS Research Fellow Gonzalo Saiz and Galen Lamphere-Englund co-founder and convener of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network to discuss Gonzalo's recent paper on the growing...

Jessica Davis, Stephen Reimer and host Tom Keatinge discuss the Financial Action Task Force's recent report on terrorist financing. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge caught up with CFS Associate Fellows Jessica Davis and Stephen Reimer to review the Financial Action Task Force's latest report on the means used by terrorists to raise funds and the wide variety of methods...

With three FIU (financial intelligence unit) leadership positions under his belt, and much more besides, Daniel Thelesklaf shares his varied and valued experience in tackling financial crime. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, host Tom Keatinge catches up with Daniel Thelesklaf, long-time friend of RUSI's Centre for Finance and Security. Through FIU leadership positions from Liechtenstein...

Elise Thomas speaks with Tom Keatinge about why the growing role of cryptocurrencies in sanctions circumvention needs urgent attention. In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge caught up with Elise Thomas from the Centre for Information Resilience during a recent visit to London, to dive into her work on the murky world of A7 and its rouble-backed stablecoin 'A7/A5' With Russian sanctions evasion...

Kimberly Donovan joins Kinga Redlowska to discuss the evolving role of economic security and economic statecraft in global affairs. Kimberly Donovan, Director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council, talks to host Kinga Redlowska about the important differences between economic security and economic statecraft, the value of 'positive economic statecraft' and Global South enga...

The effective use of sanctions needs clear objectives and outcomes, multilateral coordination, and rigorous enforcement; their overuse can have unintended consequences. Former US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo talks to host Tom Keatinge about the 2021 US Treasury Sanctions Review, the use of sanctions following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the challenges posed by cryptocurr...

A personal story exploring the challenges of introducing financial integrity and transparency to Myanmar's financial system - and of 650 days of imprisonment as a result. We talk a lot about the realities of fighting financial crime and the harms that these crimes cause. But what happens when the victims are the financial crime fighter or the financial reformer themselves...? In this first episode...

Host Tom Keatinge reveals what's in store for Season 8 of the Suspicious Transaction Report. Some great episodes are already lined up, delving into terrorist financing, what it's like to be imprisoned after attempting to reform a country's financial system, how to lead not one, not two, but three financial intelligence units (FIUs), and why the best way to fight financial crime is time in a prison...

Kinga Redlowska and Tom Keatinge reflect on the latest season, the CFS's 10th anniversary and the future of finance and security work. In this special season-wrap episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report podcast, host Kinga Redlowska, Head of Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) at RUSI Europe, is joined by Director Tom Keatinge to look back on a defining year. Together, they revisit highligh...