Dr Maria Nizzero

Maria Nizzero is the Principal, Head of Sanctions Policy, at UK Finance. Before joining UK Finance in 2025, Maria was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI. Her research examined the UK, EU and global financial crime landscape, asset recovery and sanctions, and the foreign policy dimension of illicit finance. Her other research interests include securitization processes, the serious and organised crime-terror nexus and financial crime involving high value goods. 

Maria holds a PhD in International Public Law and International Relations from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where she was also Associate Professor for four years, teaching the class of EU Politics and Institutions. She holds a LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy from the University of Barcelona, and a MA in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). She is also a Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.