Since the academic courses in National Security Studies or Defence & Strategic Studies or Military Sciences or any other avatars have been running, studying the parameters influencing national security is a pre-requisite. These parameters have largely been distinguished between conventional and non-conventional with geopolitics and international relations occupying the center stage. 

The 2001, New York attacks led to significant changes in the US outlook towards national security and identifying the channels of financing as an act of terror became a key factor for the practitioners of national security. This thinking in the US made the entire banking world and other financial institutions understand the seriousness of KYC (or Know Your Customer) and very soon money laundering and terrorist financing became the household jargons.  

However, in India there has been no significant change in the National Security Thinking which is still lingering in figuring out the impact of geopolitical risks on national security. And this is despite India facing a massive terrorist attack in its financial capital, Mumbai in 1993. The investigations into these attacks have largely spoken about the source and logistics used to acquire the explosives; but there is still very little discussion about the fund movement which supported the entire act of terror. 

Lately, India has observed significant actions against Financial Crimes including large corporate frauds, money laundering, terrorist financing, drug trafficking, etc. The agencies involved in these reactive actions are doing a great job. However, in the close quarters their dire need for trained and sensitive human resources is highlighted. 

Generally, financial crimes are looked, studied, analyzed in isolation. While in reality, they are interconnected; a corporate fraud can lead to money laundering or proceeds of crime can be infused in the legal financial system via layering or corruption monies can be laundered to finance an act of terror. Indian Financial Crime Risk landscape is very dynamic and challenging and has a significant impact on India’s national security. Furthermore, India’s geopolitical position and its existing internal security challenges makes it further complex. The terror attacks post 1993 have proved this regularly. 

As such, it is about time, efforts should be made to create skilled human resources sensitive towards national security which will not only work in the existing reactive mechanism to mitigate financial crime risk, but also preempt the risk when the crime is being perpetrated. While the latter requires significant changes in the existing infrastructure across the plethora of financial institutions, at least, efforts can be made to create skilled human resources for the former which could take up the role in preemptive actions when infrastructure is ready. But the prerequisite to these developments is inclusion of Financial Crime Risk in the wider domain of national security.