Criminal Risks in Free Trade Zones

HM Treasury could bolster the international reputation of UK freeports today by committing to publishing these reports, thereby ensuring banks and others have enough information to accurately consider their exposure," Alexandria Reid said.

"There is a huge variety in free trade zones across the world. It is imperative that banks as well as shipping and logistic companies better assess their risk exposure," said Alexandria Reid, a research fellow at RUSI and joint author of the report, 'Improving Governance and Tackling Crime in Free-Trade Zones'. Ahead of the UK government's reintroduction of the free-trade zones, RUSI, which gave input into the government proposals, recommends a tough new approach to assessing the risk. "The variety of zones means we need a more nuanced approach that looks at risk at the zonal level," Reid said.

Alexandria Reid, a research fellow at RUSI and one of the report’s authors, tells GTR that a UK-based analyst at a global bank admitted there has been “a general lack of understanding about what FTZs are, why they are used and how to assess risk at the individual zonal level” across the financial sector.