Authoritarian regimes like Russia and China use malign finance—the funding of foreign political parties, candidates, campaigns, well-connected elites, or politically influential groups, often through non-transparent structures designed to obfuscate ties to a nation state or its proxies—to interfere in democracies. Find ASD’s work on malign finance and the threat it poses to democracy on this page.
Interference Matters
Russia Is Still Finding Willing Partners Throughout Europe
Helsinki Commission Briefing: Enabling Kleptocracy
Modern dictatorship relies on access to the West. Lawyers, lobbyists, accountants, real estate professionals, consultants, and others help kleptocrats launder their money and reputations—and exert undue influence in democracies—in exchange for dirty [...]
Josh Rudolph in Foreign Policy: How Art Dealers, Real Estate Agents, and Hedge Funds Enable Corruption
If Biden is serious about fighting corruption, he needs to regulate 10 key white-collar professions. The FBI has long viewed obscure private investment funds as dangerous financial pathways for malevolent foreign activities. Nearly a decade ago, th [...]
Regulating The Enablers
Executive Summary When kleptocrats, foreign intelligence services, homegrown autocrats, and other malign actors weaponize corruption to undermine U.S. democracy, their financial secrecy relies upon the services of ten sectors of U.S. professionals [...]
Josh Kirschenbaum Discusses Shoring Up Anti-Money Laundering Supervision in Europe with PIEE
A series of anti–money laundering (AML) supervisory fiascos since 2018 have raised doubts about the integrity of the EU financial system. In July, the European Commission published wide-ranging proposals for reform, including the creation of a new E [...]
Economic Statecraft Toward China from Trump to Biden: More Continuity Than Meets the Eye
In the final year of the Trump administration, the U.S. government issued a flurry of actions related to China, utilizing a diverse basket of economic statecraft tools in furtherance of national security objectives.The Trump administration’s tariffs [...]
Josh Rudolph Discusses U.S. Anti-Corruption Policy with CAP
The fight against corruption has emerged as a defining struggle of our era and a key area of emphasis for the Biden administration and Congress. In late May, the White House designated combating corruption as a core national security interest, an un [...]
Defending Democracies Against Autocratic Advances
Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt led a conversation on democratic competition with autocracies at GMF's Brussels Forum. She was joined by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin; National Institute for Civil Discourse Executive Director Carolyn J. Lukensm [...]
Investing in Resilience
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková led a discussion on how and why NATO member states can build up their democratic, societal, and economic resilience at NATO 2030 at Brussels Forum with U.S. Representative Gerald Connolly; Tania Latici, a [...]
Biden Puts Oligarchs on Notice
While President Joe Biden’s critics have been arguing that sitting down with Putin on June 16 would look weak and wobbly, White House officials have kept their heads down and laid the groundwork for what could become the most sweeping policy initiat [...]
Belarus Is Part of Europe’s Russia Problem
For years, Alexander Lukashenko has been a problem frequently discussed but easily forgotten. When Belarus forced Ryanair flight FR4978 to land in Minsk and arrested Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega, it took away the freedom and security not only [...]
Josh Rudolph Discusses Treasury’s Role in Confronting Kleptocracy with Trace International
Malign Finance Fellow Josh Rudolph discusses how we should approach corruption and kleptocracy from a policy perspective and why Treasury needs to "get with the program." Related reading: Coordinating the War on Corruption by Josh Rudolph Treasury [...]
Josh Rudolph Discusses Alternative Measures for Combating Corruption on ‘Making A Killing’
Josh Rudolph and Abigail Bellows join Nate Sibley to explore how diplomacy, foreign development aid, and financial policy can be leveraged against kleptocracy. Casey Michel and Paul Massaro discuss the hijacking of an airliner by Belarus. [...]