Podcast
STR: Suspicious Transaction Report
Hosted by Royal United Services Institute · EN
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.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Can Terrorist Financing Ever Be Stopped?
2w ago00:40:19Tap to summarizeWhy disruption, intelligence and genuine public–private partnership matter more than promises to eliminate every terrorist dollar. Terrorism may have slipped down the political agenda, but its financing remains a critical national security challenge. Attacks can be inexpensive, but terrorist organisations still require money and resources to recruit, communicate, travel, operate and sustain their wider networks. In this latest episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report, host Tom Keatinge is joined by Jason Blazakis, formerly Director of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations in the US State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, currently a Professor at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey, California, and author of Terror Disrupted: Countering the Financing of Terrorism. They examine how terrorist financing has evolved since 9/11, what governments learned from confronting Islamic State, and the essential role of financial intelligence and private-sector partnership. The discussion also explores the extraordinary bureaucracy behind US terrorist designations, the challenge posed by the transnational radical right, the limitations of state-sponsor listings and the declining effectiveness of multilateral counterterrorist-financing mechanisms. At the heart of the conversation is a simple conclusion: success should not be measured by whether every terrorist dollar is eliminated, but by whether financial networks are disrupted, resources restricted and intelligence converted into effective action. Further reading from the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI: · A Sharper Image: Advancing a Risk-Based Response to Terrorist Financing | Royal United Services Institute · Terrorist Financing in the Age of Large Language Models · Virtual Threats: Terrorist Financing via Online Gaming Further reading from Project CRAFT: · Project CRAFT (Collaboration, Research and Analysis Against the Financing of Terrorism) is an academic research and community building initiative designed to improve counter terrorist financing (CTF) capacity around the globe. In 2025, CFS held a roundtable discussion to assess recent developments in CTF and produced a report entitled, Reassessing the Financing of Terrorism in 2025.
Transcribe →Iran's Long (Financial) Arm in Europe
4w ago00:36:56Tap to summarizeHow Iran uses proxies, shadow banking and criminal cut-outs to fund external operations and evade sanctions. Iranian-linked plots, surveillance activity and intimidation operations are drawing growing concern across Europe. But behind these activities sits a wider financial and logistical architecture that allows Tehran and its proxies to move money, evade sanctions and support operations abroad. In this episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report, Kinga Redlowska is joined by Matthew Levitt, Director of the Reinhard Programme on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to examine how Iran's external operations are evolving and what this means for Europe. They discuss the use of criminal intermediaries, online recruitment and low-cost 'gig economy' tasking; the role of oil revenues, front companies and shadow banking in financing Iran's proxies; and the connections between sanctions evasion, procurement networks and operational activity. The conversation also considers Europe's response, the need to close gaps between counterterrorism, counterintelligence and organised crime investigations, and why stronger political will, enforcement capacity and cross-border cooperation will be essential as Iran's networks become more global, flexible and difficult to disrupt.
Transcribe →Chinese Money Laundering and the 'Flying Money' Threat
Jun 1200:36:51Tap to summarizeHow Chinese money laundering organisations exploit capital controls, criminal cash and informal value transfer systems to move illicit wealth across borders. Chinese money laundering organisations have become a growing concern for law enforcement, policymakers and the private sector. But how do these networks operate, why are they attractive to organised crime groups, and what makes the UK vulnerable? Host Tom Keatinge is joined by Kathryn Westmore and Teddy Nicholson. Previously at RUSI, Kathryn is now a Senior Associate Fellow of the CFS programme and author of the SOC ACE research paper Flying Money, Hidden Threat Understanding the growth of Chinese Money Laundering Organisations. Teddy Nicholson is with the NCA's National Economic Crime Centre where he leads their strategy to tackle international illicit finance, to explore the rise of Chinese money laundering organisations, the role of underground banking and informal value transfer systems (IVTS), and the demand created by China's capital controls. Together with Tom, they discuss why these services are used by organised crime groups including those involved in the cocaine trade, how money laundering networks are adapting through crypto, fintech-style tools and cross-border criminal services, and how law enforcement agencies and the regulated sector can respond.
Transcribe →Is Populism a Business Model?
May 2900:29:39Tap to summarizeMoney, media and influence networks are turning political grievances into engines of power and profit. Populist movements are reshaping politics across Europe and North America. But beyond the rhetoric, rallies and social media campaigns lays a critical question: who is funding this political transformation – and why? Host Tom Keatinge is joined in this latest episode by Liam Byrne MP, author of Why Populists Are Winning and How to Beat Them, to explore the financial architecture behind contemporary populism. They examine the 'supply side' of populist politics: the role of major donors, offshore money, media ownership, opaque influence networks, algorithmic amplification, why political finance can no longer be viewed separately from media influence and national security, and, ultimately, who profits from the resulting political turbulence.
Transcribe →Crypto and Sanctions Evasion: Russia's Growing Shadow Economy
May 1500:38:03Tap to summarizeCrypto use is central to Russia's evasion of sanctions aimed at restricting its military procurement. It is past time for action. Over the past four years, sanctions against the financing and resourcing of the Russian military have been a key pillar of the West's response to the Kremlin's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. But as pressure has mounted on the traditional financial system, a parallel ecosystem has taken shape — one that operates beyond the reach of conventional controls. From shadow fleets moving oil, to increasingly sophisticated procurement networks, Russia has shown a clear ability to adapt. And now, crypto is playing a growing role in enabling the purchase of the goods and components that sustain its war machine. In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge, Director of the Centre for Finance & Security at RUSI, is joined by Gonzalo Saiz from the CFS team, and Kaitlin Martin, a Senior Intelligence Analyst on the National Security Intelligence team at Chainalysis, to explore how crypto is being used in Russia's procurement networks, and what policymakers need to do to keep up.
Transcribe →From Passive to Active: The Revolution at UK Companies House
May 100:28:16Tap to summarizeThe long-derided corporate registry is finally coming into its own as a central player in confronting the UK's role in global illicit finance. When the UK government opened its company register – Companies House – to public scrutiny in 2015, campaigners and journalists cheered. But as everyone dug into the data this revealed, the extent to which the register had become a central tool in global corruption, kleptocracy and criminality became clear; and the fact that Companies House had almost no powers to scrutinise, verify or exploit the data it had gathered confirmed everyone's worst fears, a position that was inexcusable. In this latest episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report, host Tom Keatinge is joined by Matt Pennell, Head of Intelligence at Companies House, to explore how the registry is being transformed from a library for unverified information – from all-comers in the world, and that it was obliged to accept – to an increasingly valuable intelligence tool in the fight against illicit finance in the UK and around the world.
Transcribe →Oliver Bullough: Why We Get Fighting Financial Crime Wrong
Apr 1700:38:13Tap to summarizeLaundering money has never been easier, cheaper, or more secure for bad actors, so why do we persist with our current response? In this latest episode, host Tom Keatinge is joined by journalist Oliver Bullough to discuss his latest book, 'Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won', which reveals the seeming futility of the current approach to fighting financial crime. Those who work in the world of financial crime inevitably get caught up on the 'hamster wheel' of compliance without stopping to ask: 'why?' Oliver's book takes the time to do just that. It is a tough read – and an equally challenging listen – for those whose careers have been built on the long-held belief that our approach to financial crime fighting is making a difference. But as Oliver argues, it is past time we considered honestly whether all the money and time spent on fighting financial crime the way we currently approach the challenge is actually making a difference.
Transcribe →Latvia's Transformation: From Laundromat to Leader
Apr 200:40:21Tap to summarizeMotivation, coordination and making the right choices has brought a remarkable turnaround in the financial crime fighting fortunes of Latvia. If you are involved in the fight against financial crime in Latvia then 2018, the year of the country's last FATF assessment, is a date that is both infamous and inspiring. That is certainly the case for Toms Platacis and Paulis Iljenkovs, Head and Deputy Head of the Latvian FIU, who join host Tom Keatinge for this latest episode of the STR podcast, to review Latvia's recently published FATF Mutual Evaluation Report. With 2018 etched in their memories, they reveal the steps they have taken to motivate public and private sector colleagues to move from 2018's near-death experience to an evaluation that places them at the top-of-the-class.
Transcribe →Countering Russia's Shadow Fleet and the Limits of Sanctions
Mar 2000:35:09Tap to summarizeHow has Russia managed to keep its oil exports flowing despite sanctions and what can governments do to more effectively disrupt the shadow fleet? As Russia adapts its energy exports to withstand sanctions pressure, a parallel maritime system has emerged to keep oil flowing across global markets. In this episode of the Suspicious Transaction Report, CFS Research Fellow Gonzalo Saiz is joined by Michelle Wiese Bockmann, Senior Maritime Intelligence Analyst at Windward, and Claire Grunewald, Co-Founder of Clarity Compliance Consulting and a former Sanctions Compliance Officer at OFAC, to examine how Russia's shadow fleet emerged, the tactics it uses to evade sanctions and continue moving oil despite international restrictions, and what governments can do to disrupt its operations as Russia's war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
Transcribe →Russian Oligarch Sanctions: Frozen Assets, Due Process and What Happens Next
Mar 600:43:27Tap to summarizeFollowing Russia's full-scale invasion, Western governments issued a slew of sanctions against oligarchs. But to what end? What's been achieved, and what happens next? Over the past decade, the UK has grappled with its reputation as 'Londongrad': a home for oligarchs – most often from Russia – to park and enjoy their money. Successive governments resisted calls for action against these individuals, whether the calls came from civil society, opposition MPs or European ambassadors in London. Even following the Salisbury poisonings in 2018, the oligarch community remained untouched. That all changed in February 2022 when the UK government's resistance to sanctioning oligarchs crumbled in the face of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Accommodating Russians and their money in London become indefensible. In this latest episode of the STR podcast, CFS Director Tom Keatinge is joined by expert oligarch watchers Michael O'Kane, a partner at Peters & Peters, and Natalia Kubesch, Legal Director at REDRESS. Four years since the Johnson/Truss government finally pulled the trigger on oligarch sanctions, one basic question remains unresolved: what is actually meant to happen to these sanctioned individuals — and, perhaps more importantly, to their frozen assets?
Transcribe →