CFS Engagement in Ukraine

CFS delivers evidence-based research, in-person and online events, training programs, and study tours for key stakeholders engaged in strengthening Ukraine's financial system.

The focus is on:

• Supporting Ukraine’s implementation of AML/CTF reforms in line with FATF standards and EU requirements.
   
• Developing effective public–private partnerships to strengthen cooperation between public and the private sector in fighting financial crime.
   
• Advising Ukrainian policymakers in strengthening financial integrity.
   
• Fostering international cooperation by engaging with global policymakers and organisations to provide up-to-date insights on Ukraine's financial system.
   
• Raising a new generation of young professionals by creating a network of leaders fighting illicit finance and equipping them with targeted training.
   
• Empowering civil society,including investigative journalists, and civil society activists, with tools to monitor fund allocation and counter money laundering.

To achieve this complex mission, CFS supported the establishment of the Centre for Financial Integrity (CFI), a think tank based in Chernihiv, Ukraine. CFS provides strategic oversight of CFI's activities, with its experts Kinga Redlowska and Tom Keatinge serving as the Head and a Member of the Advisory Board.

By nurturing CFI's growth, CFS helps ensure that expertise and capacity are firmly rooted within Ukraine, empowering policymakers, civil society, and the private sector to strengthen financial integrity.

Together, through joint projects and activities, we foster dialogue, conduct research, and deliver training that reinforce the resilience of Ukraine's financial system.

History of Project SMURF 

In 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CFS launched the Supervising and Monitoring Ukraine’s Reconstruction Funds (SMURF) project, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy.

In its first year, SMURF aimed to empower Ukraine’s 'second line of defence', civil society, by providing them with the necessary expertise and tools to monitor the proper allocation of funds and discourage kleptocracy. To achieve this, SMURF organised a study tour for a cohort of leading Ukrainian anticorruption activists, working closely with the Ukrainian government on transparency and accountability in Ukraine’s reconstruction. The cohort produced several outputs contributing to the discussions on strengthening the Ukrainian financial system.

In 2023, CFS convened a side-event to the Ukraine Recovery Conference, 'Securing the Integrity and Resilience of Ukraine’s Financial System'. During the conference, participants put forth a series of recommendations to serve as guiding points for all stakeholders involved.

Also, CFS established its presence on the ground with a Ukraine-based researcher to amplify outreach to Ukrainian stakeholders’ expertise via both online and in-person events.

In 2024, Project SMURF convened policymakers to evaluate the resilience and integrity of Ukraine’s financial system two years after Russia's full-scale invasion. The findings were published in a report assessing Ukraine’s compliance with international AML standards and the effectiveness of its response to financial crime. Alongside this, CFS launched the Financial Integrity Platform – Young Leaders Chapter to engage youth across Ukraine, advanced work on monitoring politically exposed persons, briefed the international community, and hosted roundtables with institutions including the Financial Intelligence Unit of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Bank of Ukraine, and others. 

Project SMURF focused on putting its evidence-based research into practice through capacity-building and collaborative workshops. As policymakers have increasingly been focusing on the EU accession process, the project's research objectives have come to centre on the anti-money laundering aspect of EU reforms. This includes addressing topics such as politically exposed persons (PEPs), virtual assets, and more. Through our cutting-edge research, we aim to inform both Ukrainian and international audiences about the progress Ukraine is making towards achieving a transparent financial system.

The Taskforce on Public-Private Partnership in Fighting Financial Crime in Ukraine (PPP UA) encourage a dialogue and provided expert advice on enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors in addressing financial crime.