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| In this month’s bulletin… |
| | Each month, we’ll be showcasing our latest research, news & events. Click on the subscribe button to receive our newsletter. |
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| | |  | Rewards for whistleblowers
There was huge interest in the December launch of Eliza Lockhart’s (RUSI) paper funded by SOC ACE which explores the effectiveness of financial rewards for whistleblowers in north America. It considers whether the prevailing view in many other jurisdictions that ‘no-one should be paid for doing the right thing’ works – and whether a self-financing reward approach might deliver better outcomes. Eliza’s work suggests that a formal programme works not only because it offers rewards, but also because it offers better protection.
An expert panel joined Eliza: Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office; Susan Hawley, Executive Director at Spotlight on Corruption; and Judith Seddon, Partner at Ashurst. Strong media interest in the findings earned coverage from The Financial Times, The Times (paywall) and the National Law Review. |
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|  | Information manipulation and organised crime research informs HorizonEU GEO-POWER-EU research project
Dr Tena Prelec (University of Rijeka) participated in the European Commission’s Policy Webinar on Horizon Europe, Cluster 2, Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society projects, on 6 December 2024. Tena drew on findings from her SOC ACE research on Information Manipulation and Organised Crime during the session, which centred on her own Horizon-funded research as part of the GEO-POWER-EU project.
The GEO-POWER-EU project is contributing to the empowerment of the EU to manage security threats within the deteriorating geopolitical environment that lies in its Eastern Neighbourhood and in the Western Balkans. The project’s main goal is to articulate a proposal for a comprehensive EU strategy towards these regions that will employ new and reformed means and policy instruments, taking into consideration foresight concerning the strategic ambitions of other geopolitical actors. |
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|  | Second Colombia Total Peace podcast released
A new podcast from Mariana Botero Restrepo, Felipe Botero & Juanita Durán-Vélez on Colombia's Total Peace plan focuses on the coastal town of Buenaventura. This is part two of the series from the team working on the current SOC ACE project Negotiating with criminal groups: Colombia’s Total Peace policy for GI-TOC’s award-winning Deep Dive podcast series.
This episode focuses on Buenaventura, which has long been an important node in international illicit markets. In September 2022, two gangs signed a truce – the ‘Pact for Life' mediated by the Bishop of Buenaventura. The administration of President Gustavo Petro saw an opportunity to negotiate with the gangs under the Total Peace policy, which looks to reduce violence in communities across Colombia. A reduction in homicides hides an increase in other crimes - extortion, disappearances, control of movement, and the extortion ate and often violent ‘justice’ still meted out on the population by the gangs. |
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|  | New RUSI/SOC ACE Taskforce on Security Sector Reform to Counter Organised Crime & Corruption
Dr Liam O'Shea (independent), Dr Louis Alexandre Berg (Georgia State University), Dr Lucia Tiscornia (Dublin University) and Dr Alexander Kupatadze (Kings College) lead a new Taskforce on Security Sector Reform to Counter Organised Crime & Corruption at RUSI, part of the SOC ACE project on Addressing security actors’ involvement in serious and organised crime.
The focus of the Taskforce is improved challenge to state security actors' involvement in organised crime and corruption. The launch meeting raised a number of critical insights, including the need for building better understanding of local contexts to successfully address security reform through nuanced political economy analysis, identifying local champions, and adopting adaptive, long-term strategies. |
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|  | OC24 panel on peace negotiations with organised crime: The case of Medellín, Colombia
This panel discussion focused on efforts to develop constructive policies of negotiation with OC and armed conflict actors in Medellín, and the problematic issues around criminal governance and these types of ‘Urban Peace Negotiations’. The contributors are two members of the SOC ACE Total Peace Colombia project, Felipe Botero (GI-TOC) and Juanita Durán (Laboritoria de Justica y Politica Criminal), joined by Gina Cabarcas Maciá (Laboratoria de Justica) and Andrés Preciado (Ideas for Peace Foundation). To listen to the discussion, register here. |
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|  | OC24 panel on human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Central & South Asia
Human trafficking and migrant smuggling are the two largest criminal markets in Central and South Asia, yet governments seem unwilling to recognise that the transnational dimensions of these crimes impose a grave need for prioritizing counter-action and victim and witness support. This discussion draws on, among other work, SOC ACE projects around migrant-smuggling conducted by Prem Mahadevan (GI-TOC) and Maria Khoruk (GI-TOC). They were joined by Meerim Osmonalievea (OASIS Kyrgyzstan) and Sevim Saadat (Centre for Human Rights Pakistan) to examine the challenges and the evidence that suggests it is possible to overcome them. To listen to the discussion, register here. |
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| | | | The Role of Financial Rewards for Whistleblowers in the Fight Against Economic Crime
Eliza Lockhart (RUSI)
This research reviews the evidence from Canada and the US on the use of reward programmes for whistleblowers who report incidents of economic crime. Its four key conclusions are: Rewarding whistleblowers can work – but only within a clear framework Consult and customise – reward programmes must be tailored to their context The focus of jurisdictions should be on the message, not the messenger The goal of any programme should be continuous improvement, not immediate perfection
The research concludes that, to be successful, policymakers should understand a whistleblower reward programme is a mechanism primarily designed to achieve the regulatory goals of economic crime detection and deterrence. If it is to be an effective strategy to combat illicit finance, rewards must be part of a comprehensive framework that adequately compensates and protects whistleblowers. |
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|  | Addressing Organised Crime and Security Sector Reform and Governance: The full evidence review paper
Huma Haider (Independent)
This timely research delves into the critical relationship between security sector reform (SSR) and effective governance. This publication examines contemporary challenges in SSR, including the importance of integrating governance principles to enhance security and stability.
Haider provides a thorough analysis of best practices, emphasising the need for accountability, transparency, and stakeholder engagement in SSR processes. By addressing these issues, the paper aims to inform policymakers and practitioners on creating more resilient governance frameworks. |
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|  | 'Illicit Finance as a National Security Threat: Balancing Security and Unintended Consequences'
Dr Maria Nizzero (Centre for Finance and Security)
Maria Nizzero, author of the 2023 SOC ACE research paper How to seize a billion, here explores how the threat posed by illicit finance is being brought into the national security discourse in the UK, prompted largely by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In recent decades, the perception of illicit finance has come to be seen as a security threat in its own right. Securitising a threat, if done poorly, can transform it into an extreme version of politicisation that leads to unintended consequences. Therefore, concludes Nizzero, it is crucial that the inclusion of illicit finance in the security dialogue is grounded in sound and logical reasoning. |
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|  | Combating trade-related fraud: Do the Financial Action Task Force recommendations bite?
Dr Sami Bensassi and Ariysi Raz (Birmingham Business School, UoB)
The findings of this evaluation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), drawn from a completed SOC ACE project on trade-based money laundering, are contributing to a lively policy debate surrounding the role of international organisations in combatting financing of organised crime.
It evaluates the efficacy of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations 2012, which set the global standard on combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, by exploiting its staggered adoption in 16 East and South African countries. Using the trade gap as a proxy for trade-related fraud activities, such as trade-based money laundering, the research has found that the adoption of the FATF recommendations is correlated with a 15.3% reduction in trade-related fraud. Key factors for efficacy are the capability of a state and levels of corruption, and each country’s level of compliance. |
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| | New SOC ACE research projects |
|  | The centrality of the margins: Borderlands, illicit economies and uneven development
Professor Jonathan Goodhand and Dr Patrick Meehan (Centre for the Study of Illicit Economies, Violence and Development, SOAS)
Are concentrations of violence, environmental stress, poverty and illicit activities in borderlands a result of their 'lack' of integration – or of how these regions have been integrated into national, regional, and global political economies? This research posits that maintaining borderlands as zones of liminality and illicitness can become functional for political and economic elites, but in ways that continue to work to the disadvantage of borderland populations.
The study focuses on the illicit corridor connecting Myanmar's north-eastern border and China to address an important knowledge gap: how do supply chains operate at the global margins, and what ‘work’ do they do in shaping processes of development in metropolitan centres? |
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|  | Exploring the threat of Chinese Professional Money Laundering Organisations
Katherine Westmore and Dr Maria Nizzero (Centre for Finance and Security, RUSI)
This research will explore whether the threat posed by Chinese Professional Money Laundering Organisations (PMLOs) should be considered alongside other state threats, and whether policy responses to money laundering need to change to build resilience against them.
The project has two aims: to compare operations of established Chinese PMLOs in the US/Canada with the more nascent operations seen in Europe; and to explore the role of Chinese PMLOs in the context of Chinese state activity. PMLOs actions apparently go hand in hand with Chinese state policy decisions, notably capital controls which prevent the free flow of money out of the country. While PMLOs offer citizens discreet ways to move money abroad, the links between Chinese PMLOs and the Chinese state are not well understood. Research findings are expected in Spring 2025. |
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| | Addressing organised crime through a transitional justice framework
Huma Haider (Independent)
This new research explores linkages between transitional justice, corruption and organised crime. Following on from her evidence review paper which tracks evidence that crimes committed by state officials against civilians may be intertwined with their close relationship to organised crime groups, this project aims to promote a shared narrative and framework for thinking about, discussing and addressing accountability and justice for human rights violations, corruption and OC. The research aims to encourage collaboration across academic disciplines and professional silos. |
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| | | Join us at RUSI on 14 January 2025, 4.30pm to 7.30pm, for the launch event of a new SOC ACE paper by Matthew Redhead on tackling the growing threat from hostile states. Matthew will be joined by Rory Cormac, Professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham; Heather Marquette, Professor of Development Politics at the University of Birmingham; and Tom Keatinge, Director of the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, to discuss the scale and scope of contemporary threats, potential future trends, and policy responses. Other speakers are still to be confirmed.
Register here to join the waiting list! |
| | | | | The SOC ACE team would like to wish our researchers, readers and friends a happy holiday season to those who celebrate, and our sincerest hopes for a more peaceful year in 2025. See you in January!
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