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STR: Suspicious Transaction Report

Author: Royal United Services Institute

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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.
103 Episodes
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Tom Keatinge and Jessica Davis explore the impact of Trump’s tariff threats on Canada, alongside the country’s ongoing challenges with illicit finance and money laundering. CFS Director Tom Keatinge is joined by Jessica Davis, CFS Associate Fellow and President and Principal Consultant with Insight Threat Intelligence, to discuss the rationale and impact of the threat of tariffs from the new US administration, and the policy window this might open for wider illicit finance reforms in Canada.
This episode explores the potential of whistleblower reward programmes to transform economic crime investigations. CFS Director Tom Keatinge is joined by Eliza Lockhart, Research Fellow at CFS, and Nick Ephgrave, Director of the Serious Fraud Office, to discuss Eliza’s SOC ACE research paper, ‘The Role of Financial Rewards for Whistleblowers in the Fight Against Economic Crime’. Together, they examine how financial incentives could empower whistleblowers, tackle economic crime and drive cultural and systemic change in the UK. Read the full paper
Talk of state threats, hostile states and hybrid warfare has notably increased. But how do these threats differ from those faced in the past? CFS Director Tom Keatinge is joined by Matthew Redhead, Senior Associate Fellow at CFS, to discuss his new Serious Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Evidence (SOC ACE) research programme paper, ‘Old Wine, New Bottles: The Challenge of State Threats’, and to explore this increasingly prevalent phenomenon. Read the report here: https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/external-publications/old-wine-new-bottles-challenge-state-threats
We explore the growing threat of sabotage attacks across Europe and the technological tools used for financing and recruitment. Host Tom Keatinge is joined by Dr Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, and Holger Roonemaa and Inga Springe, investigative journalists from the Baltic states, to discuss Russia’s growing campaign of sabotage. For further reading, see Holger and Inga’s reporting here and Daniela’s co-authored article for the RUSI Journal on the sabotage gig economy here.
This episode explores the astonishing case of one of the world’s biggest money-laundering schemes via the well-known Swedish Bank, Swedbank. Host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, and investigative reporter Axel Gordh Humlesjö examine the Swedbank story, what led to the investigation and how, even if banks have robust compliance systems that safeguard them against criminal misuse, they remain vulnerable to those with malign intent.
How might a second Trump term reshape the US’s use of sanctions? Host Kinga Redlowska, CFS Director Tom Keatinge and sanctions expert Jeff Lord examine the potential impact of a second Trump term on Russia, and how Europe should respond. With the rise of China and changing global dynamics, the conversation considers whether Trump’s trademark ‘maximum pressure’ tactics will resurface – or if he’ll veer towards a novel and more unpredictable strategy.
Tom Keatinge and Wagner expert Jack Margolin discuss how the group became a global mercenary powerhouse and how to counter the rise of such groups. With insights from Jack Margolin, author of ‘The Wagner Group: Inside Russia’s Mercenary Army’, this episode explores how the Wagner Group evolved into a global mercenary enterprise, profiting from conflict worldwide. With host Tom Keatinge, they unpack Wagner’s unique financial model, the strategic use of corruption, and how sanctions aim to contain these shadow networks. As new players emerge to fill the vacuum left by Wagner, they highlight the urgent need for the global community to address systemic vulnerabilities enabling such networks and to disrupt the rise and operation of similar paramilitary organisations.
Host Kinga Redlowska, Head of CFS Europe, and Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, are joined by Stephanie Baker, Bloomberg investigative journalist and author of Punishing Putin. They delve into the impact of sanctions on Russia following its illegal invasion of Ukraine, exploring Russia’s evasion tactics, the role of oligarchs, and the evolving use of sanctions as a tool in global diplomacy.
Host Tom Keatinge sits down with CFS Associate Fellow Stephen Reimer and international lawyer Ishita Chakrabati to discuss how authoritarian regimes are abusing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards. Drawing on insights from a two-year RUSI study, this episode analyses how the FATF standards, which aim to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing, are being exploited by authoritarian regimes to silence dissent. With the FATF gearing up for its upcoming plenary in Paris, the findings in our recent report emphasise the urgent need for the FATF to address these abuses and for the international community to take action to ensure the standards are used as originally intended.
In this episode, host Tom Keatinge speaks with Dr Marcus Pleyer, former FATF president, about his role in shaping global financial crime policies and EU anti-money laundering efforts. They explore Marcus’s professional journey, from a small corner of Germany’s Ministry of Finance to leading the country’s successful bid to host the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority. The conversation delves into the initiatives Marcus championed at the FATF, including the push for using technology in the fight against financial crime and the importance of a risk-based approach in FATF evaluations.
In this episode, host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at CNAS, to discuss her co-authored article ‘Axis of Upheaval’. They discuss the convergence of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea and the challenges posed across economic, military, political and technological dimensions. The conversation also delves into whether these deepening ties represent a coordinated grouping or a series of ‘marriages of convenience’ in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as what the West should do.
In the first episode of the season, host Kinga Redlowska, Head of CFS Europe, is joined by Bethany Allen, author of Beijing Rules: China's Quest for Global Influence. They discuss how China has developed its economic statecraft in recent years, the innovative methods used to achieve its geopolitical ends, and what the West can do to respond to increasingly muscular Chinese economic activities.
In this teaser, host Kinga Redlowska, Head of CFS Europe, is joined by CFS Director Tom Keatinge to launch the theme for the new season, ‘The Future Of’. Listen now to get a sneak peek at the range of topics and new ideas that will feature in Season Seven of the STR podcast.
In the last episode of this season, host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by T Raja Kumar, former President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). They discuss some of the key achievements during his presidency, such as his focus on asset recovery, increased FATF engagement with regional bodies around the world, the unprecedented suspension of Russia from the FATF, and what to expect as the next round of country evaluations begins.
In this episode, host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by Darya Dolzikova, RUSI Research Fellow, to discuss her recent paper, 'Power Plays: Developments in Russian Enriched Uranium Trade'. They discuss the financial and diplomatic benefits Russia derives from its nuclear resources and industry expertise, the extent of Western dependencies on Russian enriched uranium despite some efforts to diversify from Russian supply, and the complexity in isolating Russia financially and economically.
Host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by Geoff White, Investigative Journalist and author of Rinsed. They discuss cybercrime, money laundering, crypto hacking by North Korea, how criminals collaborate across multiple jurisdictions to evade the law, the recruitment of money-laundering mules, and the evolution of dark web marketplaces like Silk Road and Hydra.
In this episode, host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by Justyna Gudzowska, CFS Associate Fellow, and Tom Stocks, Senior Investigative Journalist at the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. They discuss their recently published paper ‘Disabling the Enablers of Sanctions Circumvention,’ the threat of frivolous lawsuits aimed at silencing independent, critical journalism, and why anonymous shell companies and trusts are the preferred tools of professional enablers to help their sanctioned clients.
In this episode, CFS Director Tom Keatinge is joined by Peter Geoghegan, Investigative Reporter at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – a global network of journalists – and author of Democracy for Sale. They discuss the role of ‘dark money’ in political funding, loopholes you can see from space, the lack of regulatory accountability on social media, the way think tanks can influence political processes, and how shell companies can be used as a vehicle to make large political donations.
Host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, discusses the impact of sanctions against Russia with Vladimir Milov, Vice President, Free Russia Foundation.  In this episode, Tom Keatinge and Vladimir Milov discuss the impact that sanctions against Russia are having on the nation’s economy and its people, the Kremlin’s dwindling finances, and why Ukraine’s allies must maintain pressure and focus to make sanctions work.
In this episode, host Tom Keatinge, CFS Director, is joined by Kathryn Westmore, CFS Senior Research Fellow, and Sahil Shah, Managing Director, Say No to Disinfo. Together, they explore how the spread of misinformation on social media is an emerging threat to financial stability, the role of misinformation in lasts year’s Silicon Valley Bank collapse, and what banks, regulators and governments can do.
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Comments (6)

Anon

This an interesting topic. Having paid attention 10 years ago to the kind of 'proactive policing' described by Trevor Aaronson, the controversy around Human Terrain Mapping, and the psychographic techniques of Alexander Nix deployed in Trinidad, I have a broader set of questions about whats going on here...

Jan 3rd
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Anon

I was asking this question years ago. When you catch up I might listen. until then, keep larping.

Sep 20th
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Anon

"Say no to disinfo". I wonder if you really are as stupid as that makes you sound. I'm certainly not as stupid as you obviously think I am. To think these people actually get paid...

May 10th
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Anon

'd-commerce' will be a thing. Platforms like Particl Marketplace will end eBay. THETA streaming will end YouTube. These big tech names we're familiar with today will go the same way the high street did. The implications are massive. Its possible to imagine the merging of social and smart contracts, without centralised control...

Dec 1st
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Tris Hicks

RUSI raising the profile of this vital area to everyday life. Nice to see cash being cited as still important for money laundering. Also the real harm caused by money launderers and professional enablers. Child exploitation and life savings are at stake. Predictions include Economic Crime Plan at risk, Brexit creates ML risk, Trust & Company service providers and Accountancy firms being investigated.

Feb 6th
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Tris Hicks

Mischa Glenny makes an excellent point about raising public concern through broadcast media. Next time you watch ANY crime drama look for the moment when the financial investigation solves the crime. This should be celebrated more often.

Sep 13th
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