Proliferation Finance

The Centre for Science and Security Studies is developing a comprehensive suite of proliferation finance training material for governments and the private sector. Research is also seeking to understand how proliferation finance differs from other types of financial controls.

Proliferation finance is not just restricted to the financial side of procuring weapons of mass destruction. It also considers all sources of funding that going to proliferating states. 

The cost of procuring weapons of mass destruction increases based on restrictions on goods and sanctions on people and entities. When proliferators use the global financial system to pay for the components they need. They also have extensive knowledge of how financial flows travel to jurisdictions where there is less chance of being detected.

Finance is used as a sanctions tool to apply an effect to a subject who might be outside of the sanctioning jurisdiction. By blocking a transfer, freezing assets, documenting transactions are part of the usual sanction tools based on finance. Although controls and regulations seem more restrictive as sanctions receive more attention, documented cases in fact look much more complex.