Pulkit Tripathi asked: Is there any course on counter terrorism finance in India?

Prasad P. Rane replies: Terrorism finance is one of the financial crimes, but the wider domain includes, among others, money laundering, sanctions (evasion and circumvention), corporate frauds, narcotics trade, human trafficking and illegal arms trade. In India, there are no formal degree courses, neither on counter terrorism finance in particular nor related to any of the financial crimes. The absence of degree courses in financial crimes is due to sheer dynamism of the domain. Due to this dynamism, the domain of financial crimes cannot be disciplined and hence weaving it into a well-defined discipline becomes difficult.

Nonetheless, there are few certificate courses offered by international and national agencies like Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS) among others. However, these certificate courses are meant for professionals engaged in identifying and mitigating the risk of financial crimes. These certificate courses certainly add weight to the résumé of a financial crime analyst who has gained knowledge and experience by putting immense efforts.

Sensitivity towards national security issues, passion for big data & technology and logical inquisitiveness are the key attributes of a successful financial crime analyst. Due to the interconnectedness between different financial crimes, generally, a financial crime analyst is required to join the dots to paint the big picture. As such, students of political science or international relations or strategic studies with a strong faculty of logic and ability to apply their theoretical knowledge draw immense success in the field of financial crime analysis.

Posted on April 09, 2019