STR: Suspicious Transaction Report

Royal United Services Institute

From the team analysing the intersection of finance and security, tune into compelling conversations on the real-world impact of global illicit finance.

This podcast explores the financial dimensions of today's leading transnational security challenges. Host Tom Keatinge and the team from the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI bring you unique insights on the challenges posed by illicit finance and practical analysis of the policy responses. They interview top thinkers and influential voices who unpack the complex world of money laundering, corruption, sanctions evasion and illicit flows, and explain how this shapes the evolving global security landscape, and what democracies and international institutions must do to stay ahead when it comes to the financial dimensions of the global threat outlook.

Suspicious Transaction Report is also home to CFS's 'Financial Crime Insights' podcast, which ran from 2020 to 2023.

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100 episodes
Updated July 24

Episodes100

Newest first

Jan 27, 2023 · 34 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 44: Ukraine's Reconstruction: Ensuring Transparency
Originally published 27 January 2023. Transparency will be key to managing Ukraine's reconstruction, both in ensuring the efficient use of resources and in maintaining the trust of the international community. CFCS Director Tom Keatinge joins Oleksii Dorohan, CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office – a leading Ukrainian think tank – to discuss why Ukraine must establish a strong anti-money laundering architecture, and to outline the goals of our joint project, Supervising and Monitoring Ukraine's Reconstruction Funds (SMURF), which empowers Ukrainian civil society and journalists in this effort.
Dec 2, 2022 · 29 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 42: Reassessing the Financing of Terrorism
Originally published on 2 December 2022. Counterterrorist financing (CTF) efforts are a key part of tackling the emerging challenges at the nexus of finance and security. CFCS's Project CRAAFT team take you behind the scenes of their three-year journey to build stronger, more coordinated CTF capacity across the EU and its neighbourhood. Kinga Redlowska is joined by Tom Keatinge and Stephen Reimer to discuss what they've learnt about the past, present and future of CTF.
Oct 21, 2022 · 19 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 39: Sanctions Evasion: The Role of North Korean Diplomats
Originally published 21 October 2022. North Korea uses an array of techniques to evade sanctions. The international focus is often on the country's exploitation of technology, yet its embassies and missions also provide a valuable support network for sanctions-busting attempts. RUSI Associate Fellow Daniel Salisbury joins host Aaron Arnold to discuss his forthcoming paper on North Korean diplomats, which explores the various ways in which they facilitate sanctions evasion and procurement efforts.
Oct 7, 2022 · 26 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 38: The Illicit Finance Threat: A Transatlantic Response
Originally published 7 October 2022. Putting a stop to illicit finance matters for global security. The US and UK are well-positioned to lead this fight, but time is of the essence as dirty money continues to unravel democracy worldwide. CFCS's Tom Keatinge and Maria Nizzero join host Alanna Putze to discuss RUSI's latest policy brief, which was inspired by the Taskforce on a Transatlantic Response to Illicit Finance. Together they explore realistic ways that the two countries can strengthen global defences against this rising threat.
Aug 26, 2022 · 23 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 35: Revolutionising Financial Supervision
Originally published 26 August 2022. How can the UK Financial Conduct Authority be more data-driven and innovative and apply risk-based supervision as it works with its regulated populations? Noémi També joins CFCS's Kathryn Westmore to discuss her recent paper on Revolutionising Financial Supervision. Together, they identify the challenges that more technologically advanced institutions – such as FinTechs and challenger banks – face regarding supervision.
Jul 29, 2022 · 31 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 33: Corruption, Kleptocracy and Illicit Finance in the Balkans
Originally published 29 July 2022. Independent journalism and civil society are vibrant in the Balkans. Yet kleptocracy and corruption stifle the region's progress and the prospects for individual EU accession. Leila Bičakčić, executive director of the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) in Sarajevo, joins RUSI Europe's Kinga Redlowska to discuss the multifaceted challenges of illicit finance in the Balkans, including the region's complex history, the influence of Russia and China, and the implications for Europe and beyond.
Jul 1, 2022 · 20 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 31: Restricting Kleptocracy: The First Mile of Financial Crime
Originally published 1 July 2022. Kleptocracy is one of the foremost financial crimes of our time. The role of grassroots actors in holding governments and corrupt actors to account is vital, particularly when it comes to catching illicit funds before they disappear into the global financial system. Host Alanna Putze is joined by CFCS colleagues Tom Keatinge and Maria Sofia Reiser to discuss a project that aims to strengthen the capabilities of investigative journalists and civil society in 'the first mile' of financial crime.
Jun 17, 2022 · 53 min
Financial Crime Insights Episode 30: Butler to the World: Britain's Dirty Money Problem
Originally published 17 June 2022. Journalist and author Oliver Bullough delves into his latest book, Butler to the World, which reveals how Britain came to assume its role as the centre of the offshore economy. Oliver joins CFCS's Tom Keatinge and Helena Wood to discuss how so many elements of modern Britain have been put at the service of the world's oligarchs and kleptocrats with disastrous global consequences, what this means within the context of Russia's war in Ukraine, and whether change is realistic.
Apr 22, 2022 · 34 min
Active Financial Measures
The final episode explores a major global challenge that initially lacked a cohesive policy response and now poses an urgent threat. CFCS's Alanna Putze is joined by the Atlantic Council's Julia Friedlander and journalist Edward Lucas to explore the active financial measures that malign actors use to corrode trust in democracy. With Russia as the prime example, they ask if the world possess the policy leadership and strategic vision required to safeguard global democracy at this crucial moment.
Apr 14, 2022 · 33 min
Sanctions: Spotlight North Korea
The UN first placed North Korea under international sanctions 15 years ago. Yet despite continued provocations and clear evidence of violations, there have been no substantive changes to the sanctions regime for the past five years. Is it time to rethink our sanctions approach to North Korea? CFCS's Sasha Erskine and Aaron Arnold are joined by former UK Ambassador to South Korea Alastair Morgan to examine the evolution of North Korea sanctions, the current state of play, and what we might expect in the future. If you've any follow-up questions for Sasha and Aaron, you can find their contact information on their profile pages on the RUSI website: rusi.org/cfcs
Apr 8, 2022 · 26 min
Punishment: Is It Working?
What happens when firms get financial crime compliance wrong? Ten years ago, the compliance world was rocked when the US authorities handed HSBC a $1.9 billion fine for "unacceptable failures" in its anti-money laundering procedures. These fines set a lot of activity into motion. But to what effect? Roger McCormick of Bayes Business School joins CFCS's Isabella Chase to dive into the punishment playbook, exploring its impact, how its changed and where it might be heading.
Apr 1, 2022 · 29 min
Countering Proliferation Financing: What Lies Ahead
Countering the financing of weapons of mass destruction is an important component of global non-proliferation efforts. While the focus has largely been on North Korea, as well as Iran, countering proliferation financing (CPF) is likely to apply to other actors in the future. Are the measures put in place sufficiently future-proofed? CFCS's Wojciech Pawlus is joined by Jonathan Brewer of King's College London and RUSI's Darya Dolzikova to look at the origins of CPF policy and examine what might lie ahead.
Mar 25, 2022 · 33 min
Environmental, Social and Governance Policy Evolutions
It's hard to keep up with the pace of change in environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy. With a number of game-changing developments in the past year alone, there's no doubt that ESG is at the forefront of the agenda, for both corporates and the financial sector. RUSI's Alexandria Reid dives into this rapidly evolving world with James Ford of Mayer Brown. Together, they discuss lessons from the past 10 years of ESG policy, and what we might expect next.
Mar 18, 2022 · 29 min
The Fraud Epidemic
Fraud is an age-old crime; one that has drastically evolved in recent years. Far from the small-scale individual acts or larger corporate offences of the past, organised volume fraud has now reached epidemic levels, posing a growing threat to the UK's national security and financial stability. CFCS's Kathryn Westmore is joined by Jonathan Holmes of PwC's Digital and Forensic Services Investigations Team, to explore how well we've adapted and how we can best stay ahead of the fraud threat.
Feb 28, 2022 · 34 min
Sanctions and Global Security
An unscheduled episode, recorded as the tragic events in Ukraine unfold. It considers the central plank of the West's response to Russia's aggression – sanctions. Tom Keatinge is joined by RUSI Associate Fellows and legal experts Anna Bradshaw of Peters & Peters and Nick Turner of Steptoe & Johnson. They discuss the wider challenges related to sanctions and their use, what these mean in the context of the current crisis, and whether it is time to rethink our approach to sanctions.
Feb 18, 2022 · 33 min
The Future Response to Asset Recovery
Confiscating the proceeds of crime seems like an obvious way to deter illicit activity, yet asset recovery is all too often an afterthought in the global response to financial crime. Gretta Fenner of the Basel Institute on Governance joins CFCS's Maria Nizzero and Helena Wood to discuss why a smarter approach to asset recovery could be transformational in narrowing the global development gap and in apprehending corrupt actors.
Feb 11, 2022 · 31 min
The Cryptocurrency Rollercoaster
More than a decade since Bitcoin's emergence, cryptocurrency continues to shake up the financial sector, keeping regulators on alert and intriguing the public. It simultaneously causes excitement about its possibilities, as well as concern about its illicit finance risks. But where are we exactly on crypto? Host Anton Moiseienko is joined by Ari Redbord of TRM Labs and CFCS's Allison Owen to take stock of cryptocurrency's evolution and what we might expect next.
Feb 4, 2022 · 35 min
The Next Decades of Counterterrorist Financing
How can the current counterterrorism financing (CTF) regime remain relevant when the threat is constantly evolving? In the 20 years since 9/11, terrorists have adopted diverse financing methods, new terrorist actors have emerged, and autocrats have co-opted CTF standards for their own nefarious purposes. Host Stephen Reimer is joined by RUSI Associate Fellow Jessica Davis and Amit Sharma of FinClusive to explore how to make CTF more effective, while mitigating its unintended consequences.
Jan 28, 2022 · 29 min
The Foundations of the Anti-Financial Crime System
Is the current global anti-financial crime regime on the right track? Just a few weeks after leaving his role as Executive Secretary of the FATF, David Lewis joins host Tom Keatinge in setting the scene for this season. They look at international financial crime policy through the prism of its history and ask if it is meeting its intended goals. How has policy taken shape over the last 30 years, how effective has it been, and what realistically needs to change in order for it to remain relevant?
Dec 17, 2021 · 40 min
End of Year Festive Special
What stood out for the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies team in 2021? Tune in to the annual festive podcast episode with Isabella Chase, Aaron Arnold, Stephen Reimer and Helena Wood to find out about the financial crime scandals and surprises of 2021 and hear the team's predictions for the year ahead.