RUSI launches European network to monitor sanctions and illicit finance

Posted to News on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 Share:

THE CENTRE for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), working in collaboration with RUSI Europe, has established SIFMANet, a network of European research institutions pledging to raise awareness of the security challenges posed by illicit finance and the weak implementation of sanctions. The overriding objective is to underline the importance of treating illicit finance as a security threat rather than merely a criminal matter.

SIFMANet – the European Sanctions and Illicit Finance Monitoring and Analysis Network – aims to strengthen European Union (EU) resilience in the face of the threat posed to security and democracy by illicit finance.

The war in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on Russia have highlighted the failure of European policymakers to consider the security dimension of the threat from illicit finance as financial flows from malign actors actively seek to undermine democracies.

For its part, SIFMANet brings together the experience and expertise of institutions across the European continent to provide tailored recommendations both to support the implementation and enforcement of sanctions against Russia and bolster the EU’s defences against the future threat to democracy realised by illicit finance.

SIFMANet will convene round table discussions and workshops of leading experts from the public and private sectors as well as academia across Europe over a period of 15 months. It will provide policy recommendations to national and EU policymakers and the private sector that aim to strengthen the effectiveness of current sanctions, raise awareness of the security threat posed by illicit finance and ensure that illicit finance remains central to the EU’s security and policy agenda.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI, statedL “Looking across the sanctions landscape in Europe, the effective implementation of the raft of sanctions issued since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presents EU Member States with significant challenges. With this new project, RUSI is excited to have the opportunity to dive into this issue, along with exploring the broader security implications of illicit finance in the EU.”

The SIFMANet network includes RUSI Europe, GLOBSEC in Slovakia, the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris, Lithuania’s Centre of Excellence in Anti-Money Laundering, the Polish Institute of International Affairs, the Prague Security Studies Institute, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Hertie School based in Germany.