August 28, 2024
Addressing proliferation financing risks has become a key priority for countries around the world. Counter-proliferation financing efforts are aimed at preventing activities that exploit the international financial system or generate revenue to advance weapons of mass destruction programs. Countries face complex implementation requirements driven by requirements in United Nations Security Council resolutions and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. These FATF standards include a recent additional requirement that countries complete a national assessment of proliferation financing risks.
To help countries implement these requirements, CNS DC organized a two-week program in four Southeast Asian countries, the first program of its kind conducted by CNS, with plans to expand to other countries in the future.
The two-week program included sessions and lectures by CNS staff and guest speakers from the U.S. Government, the United Nations Panel of Experts on North Korea, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), and other external experts on proliferation finance. These sessions focused on issues such as definitions and international requirements regarding proliferation finance, maritime sanctions and sanctions evasion techniques, proliferation finance investigation methods, consideration of cryptocurrencies and virtual assets, and the process for conducting proliferation finance risk assessments.
Participants also shared lessons learned from their experiences implementing proliferation financing controls. Through interactive exercises and participant-led presentations on country efforts to implement proliferation financing, participants and program staff had the opportunity to discuss proliferation financing best practices, share guidance on implementation challenges, and identify tools and resources for implementing proliferation financing controls.
The program was led by Dr. Ian Stewart, an expert on all aspects of proliferation finance, who presented on his research into proliferation finance typologies, open source investigative methodologies, and North Korean IT worker activities. Members of the CNS DC Office team also contributed to the program, including Nomsa Ndongwe and Sophia Poteet, who presented on topics such as proliferation finance typologies and led exercises, Dr. Andrea Vischi, who presented on Elements of Proliferation Finance Risk Assessment, Paulina Izewicz, who led a presentation and exercise on maritime sanctions issues, and Vasilis Petropoulos, who presented on illicit cryptocurrency activity.
CNS DC continues to conduct research and training on the topic of diffusion finance. Contact our team to learn more about our work on this topic.
CNS would like to thank the U.S. Department of State's Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction for its support of this program.
