Free-trade zones (FTZs) make a vital contribution to the economic prosperity of many countries but are fraught with risks of crime. Ensuring high governance standards and preventing crime in FTZs is therefore an essential but often overlooked subject.
Since April 2019, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the UK’s oldest defence and security think tank, has been working on a project that explores best practices in preventing crime in FTZs.
The project has demonstrated that, despite global advances like the publication of the OECD Code of Conduct for Clean FTZs, private-sector businesses often find it difficult to distinguish between compliant (clean) and non-compliant (risky) FTZs.
To remedy this gap, RUSI has developed a freely available online risk assessment tool that helps banks, insurance companies, shipping lines and freight forwarders assess their exposure to the risk of facilitating crime as a result of operating in an FTZ.
This event will feature a presentation of the tool and a discussion among experts on the challenges and best practices of assessing the risks of illicit trade and financial crime in FTZs.
The development of RUSI’s risk-assessment tool has been funded by PMI Impact, an anti-illicit trade funding initiative of Philip Morris International.
Timings:
Monday 14 June, 12:00-13:30 BST (11:00-12:30 GMT)
Chair:
- Alexandria Reid, Research Fellow, RUSI
Speakers:
- Graham Baldock, Chief Compliance Officer/MLRO, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank
- Muriel Cressot, Project Manager, World Free Zone Organisation
- Jeff Nielsen, Senior Legal Counsel, Maersk
- Kaushika Ruwangalla, Global Head of Financial Crime Compliance – GTRF, HSBC
Register: https://rusi-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MzqFVOkHQy6Ql0N46MYpwg
Main image credit: Sarah Starkweather, via Flickr.