Countering proliferation financing has become an important tool in combating the movement of prohibited nuclear technology and the development of suspect nuclear programs in rogue states. But how can we disrupt the networks of shell companies and shipping companies that are used to finance these proliferation activities? And whose responsibility should it be? Governments are increasingly calling on financial institutions, manufacturers, and freight forwarders to act as the first line of defense by conducting enhanced due diligence on transactions that involve dual-use items or countries or individuals under sanction. But we can do much more. This course provides young professionals with what they need know in order to help prevent and detect proliferation financing at multiple stages of the transaction chain.

This 2-unit course will be taught entirely online in an asynchronous fashion over ten weeks, although there will be fixed deadlines for quizzes and other deliverables. Through the use of original podcasts, narrated slide shows, video-taped interviews with the world’s leading experts, and short documentaries, as well as links to relevant news clips, refereed journal articles and research reports, homework exercises, and quizzes, participants will come away from this experience learning about

• What is WMD proliferation financing

• International guidelines for preventing and detecting proliferation financing

• How the North Korean regime evades financial sanctions

• Evidence of North Korean cybercrime and other fundraising activities

• How the Iranian regime evades financial sanctions

• How to recognize “red flags” or risk indicators of proliferation financing

• How shell companies are created and the phenomenon of nested shell companies

• Lessons learned from recent cases of proliferation financing

• New efforts on the part of individual countries to hold financial facilitators accountable

• How to improve automated sanction screening tools

Students may not have previously taken NPTG 8640 SEM: Threat Financing.