August 28, 2024
Addressing proliferation finance risks has become a key priority for countries worldwide. Counter proliferation finance efforts aim to prevent actors from misusing the international financial system or otherwise generating revenue to advance weapons of mass destruction programs. Countries face complex implementation requirements driven by the requirements of United Nations Security Council resolutions and recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). These FATF standards include a recent additional requirement for countries to complete a national assessment of proliferation finance risks.
To assist countries in implementing these requirements, CNS DC organized a two-week program for four countries across Southeast Asia. This was CNS’s first implementation of a program like this and will be followed by future iterations of the program for other countries.
The two-week program included sessions and lectures led by both CNS staff and guest speakers from the U.S. government, UN Panel of Experts on the DPRK, United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), and other external experts on proliferation finance. These sessions focused on issues such as the definitions and international requirements related to proliferation finance, maritime sanctions and sanctions evasion techniques, proliferation finance investigative techniques, cryptocurrency and virtual asset considerations, and processes for conducting proliferation finance risk assessments.
Participants also shared lessons learned from their own experience of implementing proliferation finance measures. Through interactive exercises and participant-led presentations on national approaches to implementing proliferation finance, participants and program staff had the opportunity to discuss best practices for countering proliferation finance, share guidance on implementation challenges, and identify tools and resources for implementing proliferation finance controls.
The program was led by Dr. Ian Stewart, who is a specialist in all aspects of proliferation finance and presented on proliferation finance typologies, open source investigative techniques, and research into North Korean IT worker activity. Members of the CNS DC office team, including Nomsa Ndongwe and Sophia Poteet, who presented and led exercises on topics including the typologies of proliferation finance, Dr. Andrea Viski, who presented on elements of a proliferation finance risk assessment, Paulina Izewicz, who presented and led exercises on maritime sanctions issues, and Vasilis Petropoulos, who presented on illicit cryptocurrency activities, also contributed to the program.
CNS DC continues to conduct research and training on proliferation finance topics. Please reach out to the team to learn more about our work on this topic.
CNS is grateful to the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction for its support of this program.