RUSI Launches Proliferation Financing Risk Exercise

RUSI’s Proliferation Financing Risk Exercise is an interactive addition to our 2019 Guidance on Conducting a National Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment. As more countries embark on conducting proliferation financing risk assessments, the exercise aims to promote awareness of the key and contextual factors affecting exposure to proliferation financing risk.  

The exercise utilises two fictional countries and made up scenarios inspired by actual proliferation financing events around the world. The exercise illustrates how to conduct a proliferation financing risk assessment by asking the user to rate proliferation financing threats, vulnerabilities and consequences and generate a unique proliferation financing risk heatmap based on the user’s inputs. The exercise takes about 20-30 minutes to complete. 

RUSI has been at the forefront of global efforts to enhance measures to counter proliferation financing, including the development of a CPF Model Law [Link], as well as sector and region-specific PF guidance. In 2019, RUSI developed its landmark Guidance on Conducting a National Proliferation Financing Risk Assessment, which seeks to equip governments with a template to identify and address proliferation financing risks. To read more about RUSI’s work on CPF access www.rusi.org/CPF 

Emil Dall, one of the co-authors of the exercise, said “the Financial Action Task Force has proposed amendments to its standards to make proliferation financing risk assessments a mandatory requirement. This exercise offers a unique interactive way for governments to consider how such a risk assessment might take place in practice, and how it is different from the money laundering or terrorist financing risk assessments they are already familiar with.”  

Darya Dolzikova, the exercise’s other co-author noted that  “in order for governments to effectively counter proliferation financing risks, it is key that they first understand how these activities may manifest themselves in their own economies.  This exercise demonstrates one possible approach to conducting a national proliferation financing risk assessment and demonstrates how proliferation financing risk may vary depending on unique national circumstances.”