Sanctions and Illicit Finance Monitoring and Analysis Network (SIFMANet)

SIFMANet brings together research institutions to raise awareness and inform policymaking against the illicit financial flows that continue to undermine our democracies.




Anatolyi Deryenko / Alamy Stock Vector


SIFMANet is a collaborative network, led by the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI. Its mission is simple but urgent: to strengthen Europe's ability to defend democracy against the growing national security threat of illicit finance, and to turn insight into real, practical policy solutions.

In the years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the financial frontlines of global security have become impossible to ignore. Money is no longer just an economic tool; it’s a weapon that can undermine institutions, distort public life, and erode the very foundations of our democracies. Yet too often, illicit finance is still seen as a criminal or technical issue, not as the profound security challenge it truly is.

By bringing together civil society, academia, government, and the private sector, SIFMANet seeks to help think smarter and act faster, building a collective response that protects the integrity of our systems and the values we share.

Anatolyi Deryenko / Alamy Stock Vector

Updated recommendations


2025 SIFMANet Recommendations: A Sanctions Strategy for Europe

SIFMANet offers its third set of sanctions recommendations, which will drive our work in 2025, shaped to reflect this changing background whilst ensuring that the international security role sanctions are intended to play for Europe is cemented and strengthened, whether against Russia or other threats.

2024 SIFMANet Brussels Summit


Making Sanctions Work: The Way Forward in 2024


The SIFMANet Sanctions Brief


Our team


Kinga Redlowska

Head of CFS Europe

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Tom Keatinge

Director, CFS

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Gonzalo Saiz Erausquin

Research Fellow

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Irina Mamulashvili

Russia Sanctions Implementation Project Officer

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Balázs Gyimesi

External Relations and Communications Manager, RUSI Europe

Communications and Marketing

View profile

Vlada Yaremenko

Senior Project Officer

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Dr Daryna Dvornichenko

Russia Sanctions Programme Manager, CFS

Centre for Finance and Security

View profile

Objectives

SIFMANet intends to address identified shortcomings and unanswered challenges that Europe and its partners face. It aims to:

  • Act as a convener by creating a platform for sanctions professionals to exchange ideas on how to make sanctions more effective.
     
  • Collect on-the-ground insights from members and share findings with partners in Brussels.
     
  • Influence the debate about the future of sanction by engaging with media, testifying before parliaments, briefing stakeholders on developments and offering recommendations to policymakers.
     
  • Highlight the importance of applying a national security lens to the threats posed by illicit finance to the EU and connected states and their democratic systems.
     
  • Create a collaborative network of institutions to ensure sanctions and illicit finance remain central to the EU security and policy agenda.

Sanctions Effectiveness: The Role of Data

David O'Sullivan: Behind the Scenes of EU Sanctions Diplomacy

Making Sanctions Work: Euro SIFMANet

CFCS Director Tom Keatinge Address to the Annual AML Center Conference 2023

Roundtables

Read the roundtable discussion summaries and watch some of the session recordings

Alternative Financial Systems and the Reshaping of Global Finance

Alternative Financial Systems and the Reshaping of Global Finance

clockLong Read
SIFMANet: Yerevan Report

SIFMANet: Yerevan Report

clockLong Read
SIFMANet Bucharest: Finance and Security in a Changing World

SIFMANet Bucharest: Finance and Security in a Changing World

clockLong Read
Sanctions in the Virtual Asset Industry: SIFMANet Roundtable Report

Sanctions in the Virtual Asset Industry: SIFMANet Roundtable Report

clockLong Read
SIFMANet: Tokyo Report

SIFMANet: Tokyo Report

clockLong Read
SIFMANet: Helsinki Report

SIFMANet: Helsinki Report

clockLong Read
SIFMANet Brussels Report 2: Engaging with Sanctions Sceptics and Agnostics

SIFMANet Brussels Report 2: Engaging with Sanctions Sceptics and Agnostics

clockLong Read
SIFMANet  Brussels Report 1:  Sanctions Alliances  and Synergies

SIFMANet Brussels Report 1: Sanctions Alliances and Synergies

clockLong Read
SIFMANet Report: Strategies for Effective Sanctions on Belarus

SIFMANet Report: Strategies for Effective Sanctions on Belarus

clockLong Read
SIFMANet: Pretoria Report

SIFMANet: Pretoria Report

clockLong Read
SIFMANet: Budapest Report

SIFMANet: Budapest Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Virtual Asset Sanctions Roundtable Report

Euro SIFMANet: Virtual Asset Sanctions Roundtable Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Copenhagen Report

Euro SIFMANet: Copenhagen Report

clockLong Read
2024 Euro SIFMANet Summit, Riga: Sanctions at the EU’s External Borders

2024 Euro SIFMANet Summit, Riga: Sanctions at the EU’s External Borders

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Valletta Report

Euro SIFMANet: Valletta Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: The Hague Report

Euro SIFMANet: The Hague Report

clockLong Read
2024 Euro SIFMANet Summit, Riga: Data Sharing and Sanctions Against Russia

2024 Euro SIFMANet Summit, Riga: Data Sharing and Sanctions Against Russia

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Tbilisi Report

Euro SIFMANet: Tbilisi Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Barcelona Report - The Role of Data in Sanctions Implementation

Euro SIFMANet: Barcelona Report - The Role of Data in Sanctions Implementation

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Stockholm Report

Euro SIFMANet: Stockholm Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Madrid Report

Euro SIFMANet: Madrid Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Riga Report

Euro SIFMANet: Riga Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Warsaw Report

Euro SIFMANet: Warsaw Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Paris Report

Euro SIFMANet: Paris Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Prague Report

Euro SIFMANet: Prague Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Berlin Report

Euro SIFMANet: Berlin Report

clockLong Read
Euro SIFMANet: Vilnius Report

Euro SIFMANet: Vilnius Report

clock11 Minute Read

Summits

Each year, the SIFMANet community convenes to discuss the latest developments in the sanctions world, address current challenges, and examine the most pressing aspects of sanctions implementation.

As the deployment of G7 sanctions is a highly dynamic process, we respond accordingly. Each year, our focus shifts to the areas where action is most needed, and impact can be greatest.

So far, we have organised:

Upcoming: SIFMANet Summit in Brussels, 4 December 2025

After each summit, we produce recommendations for policymakers for the year ahead and disseminate them within our network and beyond.

Recommendations


2025 SIFMANet Recommendations: A Sanctions Strategy for Europe

SIFMANet offers its third set of sanctions recommendations, which will drive our work in 2025, shaped to reflect this changing background whilst ensuring that the international security role sanctions are intended to play for Europe is cemented and strengthened, whether against Russia or other threats.

SIFMANet - 2024 Recommendations: Making Sanctions Work

As SIFMANet continues in its second year it is updating its recommendations to make Russia sanctions work in 2024.

Recommendations for Effective Sanctions Against Russia

SIFMANet has collected recommendations to be actioned in order to overcome the implementation challenges identified and enhance the effectiveness of its restrictive measures against Russia.

Network members and sponsor

SIFMANet is a community of institutions, organisations, think tanks and experts from across Europe and beyond, working together to strengthen the effective implementation of sanctions and countering illicit finance that undermines democracy.

We bring our members together through monthly learning sessions, practical resources, and tailored guidance, helping them deepen their expertise and stay ahead of emerging challenges. As a collaborative platform, we connect sanctions experts from different countries, creating space for regular dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and joint problem-solving.

By fostering these connections, we ensure our members are well-equipped to engage audiences in their own countries and languages with clarity and confidence.

Project sponsor

  • National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

    National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

    The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, NED makes more than 2,000 grants to support the projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 100 countries.

    Find out more

Latest publications

View all publications

    Loading results...