Threat Finance—Disconnecting the Lifeline of Organised Crime and Terrorism

Criminal and terrorist organisations are increasingly turning to white collar crime such as fraud, e-crime, bribery, data and identity theft, in addition to more violent activities involving kidnap and ransom, narcotics and arms trafficking, to fund their activities and, in some cases pursue their cause. The choice of victims is global and indiscriminate. The modus operandi is continually mutating and increasing in sophistication; taking advantage of weaknesses in the system whether they be technological, legal or political. Countering these sources of threat finance is a shared challenge for governments, the military, NGOs, financial institutions and other businesses that may be targeted. Shima Keenea€?s Threat Finance offers new thinking to equip any organisation regardless of sector and geographical location, with the knowledge and tools to deploy effective counter measures to tackle the threat. To that end, she brings together a wide variety of perspectives - cultural, legal, economic and technological - to explain the sources, mechanisms and key intervention methodologies. The current environment continues to favour the criminal and the terrorist. Threat Finance is an essential read for fraud and security practitioners, financial regulators, policy-makers, intelligence officials, judges and barristers, law enforcement officers, and researchers in this field. Dr Keene offers an antidote to the lack of good, applied, research; shortcomings in in-house financial and forensic expertise; misdirected financial compliance schemes; legal and judicial idiosyncrasies; unhelpful organisation structures and poor communication. She argues convincingly for a coherent, aggressive, informed and cross-disciplinary approach to an ever changing and rapidly growing threat.

Shima Keene is a security advisor and scholar practitioner specialising in Threat Finance, advising and working closely with numerous government and law enforcement agencies around the globe. She is a former investment banker, corporate strategist and soldier. Between 2004 and 2008, Shima Keene was based at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom where she developed the concept of asymmetric financial warfare. More recently she was Special Advisor to the MoD responsible for the development of Fin COIN strategies in Afghanistan. Dr Keene is currently the Director of the Threat Finance Programme at the Institute for Statecraft, London and is a visiting lecturer at several academic institutions where she lectures in Terrorism, Financial Crime, International Criminal Law, Security Risk Management and Maritime Piracy. She also serves as an Expert Witness to the Crown Prosecution Service on matters relating to the financial aspects of organised crime and terrorism.