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| | ACE research called ‘world leading’ in the new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025.
Several new publications this month, including women and illicit finance in occupied Ukraine, Chinese money laundering organisations, corruption and functionality in Pakistan, Iran and state threats, addressing security sector involvement in SOC, lessons from research on anti-corruption and counter-SOC messaging interventions, and evidence on organised crime and development.
A new phase of research on state threats assessing Western responses kicks off.
Research on whistleblowing rewards to tackle economic crime continues to deliver impact, as HMRC announces launch of new scheme.
SOC ACE researcher featured in BBC Radio 4 investigation into criminal actors and hybrid threats.
SOC ACE Director joins ‘Kleptoscope’ panel at The Frontline Club.
Watch event recordings on reforming police and military entanglement with organised crime and on Chinese money laundering organisations.
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| | Each month, we’ll be showcasing our latest research, news & events. Click on the subscribe button to receive our newsletter. |
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| ACE research informs the new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 |
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| The new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025: Supporting growth, strengthening security, protecting democracy describes the Anti-Corruption Evidence programme - including SOC ACE, GI ACE and SOAS ACE - as “world-leading” providers of evidence on understanding the scale and harms of corruption. Drawing on SOC ACE research by Olivia Allison and Professor David Lewis, the strategy recognises that “corruption is a transnational security challenge which fuels instability and state capture and increases threats back into the UK, including from kleptocrats, criminals and hostile states.” The strategy also cements the UK’s commitment to exploring the “feasibility of introducing financial incentives schemes and support for individuals reporting economic crime”, citing Eliza Lockhart’s SOC ACE paper on the role of financial rewards for whistleblowers in tackling economic crime.
Professor Heather Marquette attended the launch of the Strategy at Mansion House, along with other ACE researchers (from left to right): Dr Susan Hawley (GI ACE/Spotlight on Corruption), Professor Heather Marquette (SOC ACE/University of Birmingham), Dr Dan Haberly (GI ACE/University of Sussex), Professor John Heathershaw (GI ACE/University of Exeter), Dr Thomas Mayne (GI ACE/SOC ACE/University of Exeter), Professor Liz David-Barrett (GI ACE Director/University of Sussex), Professor Robert Barrington (GI ACE Director of Operations/University of Sussex) and Dr Maria Nizzero (SOC ACE/UK Finance/University of Exeter) (not pictured, Kathryn Westmore (SOC ACE/RUSI). |
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| | Eliza Lockhart’s whistleblowing research informs UK government policy |
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| In her November Budget statement, the UK’s Chancellor announced a “strengthened reward scheme for informants who provide valuable information which allows HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to tackle high-value avoidance or evasion, modelled on the US scheme”, with a new portal for reporting available. The government statement reads “…For cases where tax over £1.5 million is recovered, HMRC will pay rewards up to 30% of the additional tax collected that would otherwise have gone unpaid.”
In the lead-up to the budget announcement, media, including the Financial Times, Business Matters and City AM, trailed the initiative, referring to case studies that are unique to Eliza Lockhart’s SOC ACE paper on the role of financial rewards for whistleblowers in the fight against economic crime. Her research was also cited directly in the new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy as evidence underpinning the new policy. |
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| | BBC Radio 4 investigation on ‘Playing Spies’, featuring Matthew Redhead |
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| RUSI’s Matthew Redhead was interviewed by Gordon Corera, BBC journalist and co-host of the popular podcast The Rest is Classified, in a new investigation called Playing Spies. They discuss how petty criminals and serious organised crime are increasingly being used as tools of spycraft and state threats, including undertaking acts of sabotage, subversion, information gathering and more, driven by necessity and the offer of plausible deniability in a new ecosystem of state interference.
Listen to the investigation here, and find out more about Matthew’s ongoing research on state threats here. |
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| | Launch of new research on Chinese money laundering organisations |
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| | | Dr Tena Prelec launches new course on ‘Political Transformations’ at the University of Udine |
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| Dr Tena Prelec (University of Rijeka) launched a new study programme in Political Transformations at the University of Udine. The programme includes a strong focus on the rule of law, state capture, and anti-corruption, drawing on her SOC ACE research and policy debates relevant to the wider anti-corruption community. The course is designed for a broader audience - students from different disciplines, civil society actors, journalists, and professionals working in governance, public policy, and related fields. |
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| | Disrupting organised crime: If you can’t beat them, sanction them? |
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| With increased use of sanctions against organised crime, including most recently the UK’s first use of targeted sanctions against people-smuggling networks, in their new RUSI Commentary, Cathy Haenlein, Elijah Glantz and Dr Anton Moiseienko explore the considerations needed to inform decisions on what, who and how to sanction organised crime activity. They also highlight the importance of wider dynamics in such decisions, including the role and cooperation of states that hold stakes in such sanctions. The Commentary offers a preview of the team’s ongoing SOC ACE-funded research, ‘Assessing the effectiveness of sanctions as tools to disrupt serious organised crime’. Read the full Commentary here; Disrupting Organised Crime: If you can’t beat them, sanction them? |
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| | Professor Heather Marquette joins ‘Kleptoscope’ panel at the Frontline Club |
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| | In a Frontline Club panel convened by award-winning journalist and author, Oliver Bullough, SOC ACE Director Professor Heather Marquette joined Rt. Hon. Liam Byrne MP (Chair, House of Commons Business & Trade Committee/Honorary Professor, University of Birmingham), Dr Susan Hawley (Spotlight on Corruption) and Jessica Garland (Electoral Reform Society) to discuss whether efforts to shore up Britain’s defences and prevent Westminster from being captured by corrupt elites are enough. |
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| | New blog from Eliza Lockhart on lessons from Australia for UK’s Chinese spy-scandal |
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| Eliza Lockhart’s new RUSI Commentary on What the Chinese Spy Scandal Reveals about UK Resolve draws on the Australian experience of countering Chinese espionage and pulls out lessons for the UK in the wake of the recent collapse of the trial involving two UK parliamentary staff allegedly spying on behalf of China. |
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| | Huma Haider presenting research on the case for including organised crime within the scope of international humanitarian law |
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| | | Research on state threats at RUSI workshop in Warsaw on Russian financing of sabotage |
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| Matthew Redhead (RUS) joined policymakers and practitioners in Warsaw for a timely discussion on ‘How is Russian sabotage is being financed?’. The conference, co-convened by RUSI’s Centre for Finance and Security and The Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM), gathered experts from across Europe to explore the dynamics of threat finance, with insights from government, business, media, and civil society.
The workshop looked at modern Russian sabotage targets, methods, recruitment, and financing mechanisms. The workshop also considered actions to build resilience against such threats, including strengthening legal, regulatory, and operational frameworks, cross-sector collaboration, open-source reporting and multi-domain intelligence analysis. Read about Matthew’s research on Russia and state threats here. |
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| | FCDO’s IF & SOCnet Global Conference takes aim at states threats and criminal proxies |
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| SOC ACE Director Professor Heather Marquette, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow Matthew Redhead and Director of the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI, Tom Keatinge, participated in a panel on ‘State threats and the use of criminal proxies’ at FCDO’s IF & SOCnet Global Conference, which brought together SOC and illicit finance leads from across its global network. Matthew discussed insights from his research on criminal actors and state threats, while Tom set out the global security impacts of illicit finance and criminal collusion with state actors. A senior National Crime Agency official shared outcomes of ‘Operation Destabilise’, an international law enforcement operation targeting a billion-dollar money laundering network, whilst Heather co-chaired the panel with FCDO Deputy Director Andrew Preston. |
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| | Revitalising Security Sector Reform |
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| SOC ACE researcher, Dr Liam O’Shea (SGI/RUSI), convened the Anti-Corruption & Building Integrity in Defence and Security Network to discuss how to revitalise the security sector reform (SSR) agenda in response to a changed world. The meeting was held in conjunction with Dr Jonathan Marley from the OECD who is leading the refresh of the OECD’s Handbook on Security Sector Reform. With SSR slipping down the agenda over the last 10 years, there’s an appetite to renew and re-establish the concepts and principles of security sector reform. The Network raised the need to consider issues of security sector financing, state threats, private military companies, non-state armed groups, disinformation, and migration and displacement, among others, in any new SSR conceptualisation. It also highlighted the imperative to consider the complex, overlapping issues of organised crime, terrorism, and corruption. |
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| | Sharing early findings of research into borderlands, illicit economies and uneven development in the Myanmar-China Corridor |
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| Dr Xu Peng (SOAS) has been sharing early findings from the SOC ACE research project, ‘The centrality of the margins: Borderlands, illicit economies and uneven development’. Presenting at conferences in Hong Kong, Cambridge and Warwick, her research with the SOAS/CIVAD team sheds light on the diversity of Chinese Strategies for dealing with armed groups in Myanmar’s borderlands and examined how China is dealing with scam issues in Southeast Asia, finding that localisation determines how states can cooperate and what they can achieve when addressing the issue, and that cross-border crackdowns are sovereign reconfigurations. |
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| Weathering the storm? Policy responses to state threats |
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| A new phase of Matthew Redhead’s (RUSI) work on state threats has launched, now in collaboration with Eliza Lockhart (RUSI). Building on previous research into the scope and nature of state threats, this phase will analyse and assess Western governments’ policy responses to these challenges.
The research aims to map the range of policy tools available to decision-makers, identify areas where further action may be needed, and explore alternative options that could be considered. Keep an eye out for updates and research outputs on the SOC ACE project website, Understanding State Threats. |
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Women and illicit finance in Russia’s occupation of Ukraine (Research Paper 37)
Dr Orly Stern and Olivia Allison’s (University of Exeter/RUSI) new research paper takes a gendered view of Russia’s use of illicit financial flows (IFFs) in occupied Ukraine by examining the role of women as both victims and perpetrators. The paper sheds light on the overlooked role women play, be that implementing corrupt policies, acting as proxies, or surviving under duress, while facing systemic harm, coercion, and prosecution amid gendered norms.
Read more about the ‘Illicit finance and Russian foreign policy: New dynamics and linkages’ here. |
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Flying money, hidden threat: Understanding the growth of Chinese Money Laundering Organisations (Research Paper 36)
Kathryn Westmore’s (RUSI) new paper examines the rapid development of Chinese Money Laundering Organisations (CMLOs), tracing their history and expansion in the West. The research shows how CMLOs exploit China’s capital controls, diaspora networks, and traditional remittance systems to move illicit funds globally, and how their integration with modern financial technologies and criminal markets, including fentanyl, fuels rapid growth. While the research does not find evidence in the public domain that CMLO's are state directed, there does appear to be a degree of tacit acceptance. The paper concludes by offering a nuanced understanding of possible policy responses, encouraging a strategic, collaborative approach to addressing the CMLO threat.
Find the accompanying Briefing Note and read more about the ‘Exploring the threat of Chinese professional money laundering’ SOC ACE project here. |
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Addressing police and military involvement in serious organised crime (Research Paper 39)
A new SOC ACE paper from Dr Liam O’Shea (RUSI/ISG), Dr Louis-Alexandre Berg (Georgia State University), Dr Alexander Kupatadze (Kings College London), and Dr Lucia Tiscornia (University College Dublin), examines security sector reforms in Colombia, Georgia, and South Africa. They discuss the organisational, governance, and political conditions that helped reduce military and police collusion with organised crime. The research looks at the importance of critical junctures and political openings, as well as the need to combine organisational and prosecutorial reforms. The cases also highlight a number of political risks, including the potential erosion of democratic values, and the importance of ensuring reforms are politically grounded.
To find the accompanying Briefing Note and learn more, visit the project page Addressing police and military involvement in serious and organised crime here. |
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| ‘Organised Crime and Development’ VoxDevLit, 17(1) September 2025
A new article by Professor Santiago Tobón (Universidad EAFIT), Dr Maria Micaela Sviatschi (Princeton University) and Nicolás Cabra-Ruiz (Princeton University) draws on research conducted under the Medellin Impact Lab, a research initiative co-funded by SOC ACE, alongside a wide range of sources. The article sets out evidence demonstrating how organised crime undermines development by exploiting weak institutions, social networks, and illicit market incentives. It fuels violence, extortion, child recruitment, and corruption, reducing growth, trust, and human capital. The paper offers insights for policymakers and practitioners, showing how effective responses are those that combine targeted enforcement, institutional reform, and preventative measures, such as youth programmes, cash transfers and prison rehabilitation. |
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| The logic of resistance: The ongoing state threats challenge from Iran (Synthesis Paper 05)
The fifth in the SOC ACE synthesis paper series, this new paper from Matthew Redhead (RUSI) focuses on the burgeoning threat presented by the Iranian regime. Iran has emerged as a leading perpetrator of state threats activity, alongside Russia, China, and North Korea. It describes how Iran has consistently deployed both overt and covert tactics against foreign adversaries and exiled opposition groups. Acts have included harassment of shipping in the Persian Gulf, surveillance, kidnapping, assassination and terrorism.
Read more about the Understanding State Threats project here. |
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Conceptualising the interplay of corruption and an informal security welfare regime: Pakistan case study (Research Paper 38)
Dr Zahid Mumtaz (Australian National University) and Dr Caryn Peiffer’s (University of Bristol) new paper investigates the complex relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes, using Pakistan as a case study. In contexts where formal welfare systems are weak or inaccessible, individuals often rely on kinship, community, and patron-client networks for social protection. The study reveals that corruption plays a dual role: it undermines formal welfare provision while simultaneously acting as a survival mechanism for those excluded from official support.
Find the accompanying Briefing Note and read more about the Understanding functionality for more effective SOC & corruption strategies and interventions project, here. |
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| Anti-corruption awareness raising campaigns: Why do they fail, and how can ‘backfire’ effects be avoided? (Paywall)
Professor Nic Cheeseman (University of Birmingham) and Dr Caryn Peiffer (University of Bristol) have contributed a chapter to the Routledge Handbook of Anti-Corruption Research and Practice. Their chapter, which draws on research funded by SOC ACE, summarises evidence that anti-corruption messaging often has limited impact - and may even “backfire” by making people more pessimistic about the problem. Drawing on social norms, political psychology, and political behavioural literatures, the chapter highlights why raising awareness about corruption can inspire resignation, how hopeful messaging is likely to be dismissed, and why attitudes about corruption are especially difficult to shift, with the authors calling for testing of anti-corruption campaigns before they are deployed.
Find out more about the authors’ approach to using experimental techniques to test an awareness messaging campaign about ‘social bads’, here, and read more about their SOC ACE funded research, Fighting serious organised crime and corruption in Albania: Testing messaging approaches here. |
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| | | SOC ACE Webinar Rooting out collusion: Reforming Police and Military Entanglement with Organised Crime
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| On 11 December, policymakers, practitioners and academics joined a SOC ACE Webinar examining why Colombia and Georgia succeeded in reducing police and military involvement in organised crime, while South Africa’s reforms struggled to address the issue. The discussion highlighted what these contrasting trajectories reveal for contemporary security sector reform, organised crime control, and resilience building.
Dr Liam O’Shea (SIG Research/RUSI), a specialist in security sector reform, and Dr Louis-Alexandre Berg (Georgia State University), whose work focuses on the causes and consequences of conflict, crime and political violence in weak states, presented their latest findings in the well-attended session.
The webinar was moderated Dr Jonathan Marley, lead on the OECD’s States of Fragility series, who oversees associated research and analysis on development, peace and security, and was chaired by Professor Heather Marquette (SOC ACE Director/ University of Birmingham).
The speakers discussed how reforms in Colombia and Georgia exploited political openings, restructured security organisations and strengthened prosecutorial capacity to dismantle entrenched criminal networks. They also outlined why South Africa’s democratic policing reforms struggled to confront collusion.
The conversation explored the organisational and institutional measures that enabled success, the political incentives and resistance that shaped outcomes, and the scope and limits of external support in such contexts. Together the cases offer evidence from distinct environments on targeting collusion, managing resistance, and supporting reformers operating where organised crime, corruption and state capture intersect.
View a recording of the webinar here and learn more about the research on the SOC ACE website, ‘Addressing police and military involvement in organised crime’ here. |
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| | | Olivia Allison (RUSI) spent a week in Kyiv co-delivering training on ‘Building compliance and collaboration: Strengthening the capacity of financial institutions and designated non-financial business and professions in Ukraine to combat money laundering and terrorist financing’.
Professor John Heathershaw (University of Exeter), Dr Thomas Mayne (University of Exeter), Dr Tena Prelec (University of Rijeka) and Dr Shayakhmet Tokubayev (International School of Economic KAZGUU) have published a new journal article on ‘The incumbency advantage and the enabler effect: How Londongrad beat the UK anti-money laundering regime’ that draws on their research funded by GI ACE among others.
Dr Anton Moiseienko (ANU) has appeared in Australian Broadcasting Corporation podcast The Radio National Hour on an episode titled, ‘EU payout for Ukraine seeks to make Russia pay’. Moiseienko describes plans among EU leaders to provide a “reparation loan”, drawn against frozen Russian assets.
Kristina Amerhauser (GI-TOC) has published a report ‘Illicit financial flows: The lifeblood of crime and corruption in Latin America’, in which she describes the complexity of analysing illicit finance and discusses approaches to doing so.
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| | | If you’ve used any of SOC ACE’s research to inform policy and/or practice, let us know by sending us an email at:
impact-socace@contacts.bham.ac.uk |
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