For decades, rogue states and terrorist groups have exploited the global financial system to finance the acquisition of goods and materials for their weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. Regulatory pressure on financial institutions to better respond to this threat has likewise grown. In its most recent plenary, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter for addressing financial crime, amended its recommendations to more closely focus on how jurisdictions and their financial sectors should understand their risk exposure to the financing of proliferation. Early in 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is expected to update its National Strategy for Combatting Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing, which will likely further emphasize proliferation finance risks. Both of these lines of effort will highlight the financial sector as an essential front-line actor in preventing, detecting, and disrupting the financing of proliferation.
Hosted on the DOLFIN platform, this webinar—the first of two K2 Integrity will hold on countering proliferation finance—will explore critical issues around understanding and combatting the financing of WMD proliferation. It will explain how the financing of proliferation is distinct from other financial crimes and provide case studies of how past proliferation networks have manipulated financial flows and evaded financial institution controls. The webinar also will describe the important role that financial institutions and other private-sector actors play in the counter-proliferation finance regime. An announcement about the second webinar, which will feature perspectives from relevant regulators and financial institutions, will follow soon.
Moderator and Host:
Chip Poncy, K2 Integrity
Speakers:
Jonathan Brewer, King’s College London
Jean-Annet de Saint Rapt, King’s College London
Julia Khersonsky, U.S. Department of State
