David Carlisle is an independent consultant whose work focuses on understanding the financial flows associated with criminal networks, and in devising strategies for preventing and disrupting illicit financial activity.

From 2007 to 2012, David worked in the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). As an analyst at TFI his work focused on studying the illicit financial flows of terrorist groups, weapons proliferation networks, and regimes such as Iran and North Korea. He later worked in policy roles, advising senior Treasury officials on strategies for disrupting these networks.

Since 2012, David has worked in London as a consultant advising the public, private and non-profit sectors on topics related to fraud, money laundering, economic sanctions and other financial crimes. This has included assisting private sector and non-profit organizations in conducting investigations and devising strategies for uncovering illicit financial activities related to crimes such as wildlife trafficking and human trafficking.

David is an associate fellow with the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defence and security studies think tank. His research has included focus on topics such as: designing public private partnerships to improve the quality of financial information sharing; devising appropriate responses to financially-motivated cyber-crime; and the impact of new financial technologies (FinTech) and their implications for policy-making.

David’s recent publications include a March 2017 report for CFCS on virtual currencies. In September 2017, he co-authored a white paper on money laundering typologies in the FinTech sector for the FinTech Financial Crime Exchange, a private sector initiative focused on enabling UK FinTech companies to cooperate in disrupting financial crime.

Articles & Publications

• “Blurring the lines: how technology is shaping illicit finance typologies,” International Compliance Association, 2 January 2018
• “FinTech: the next frontier,” Money Laundering Bulletin, 18 November 2017
• “Beyond Bitcoin: What Does the Future of Financial Crime Hold?” Royal United Services Institute, 9 October 2017
• Money Laundering and the FinTech Sector: Risks and Realities, FinTech Financial Crime Exchange, London, 29 September 2017
• “WannaCry Ransomware: Putting Cybercriminals Finances Under the Microscope,” Royal United Services Institute, 17 May 2017
• Best Practice in Customer Due Diligence Among FinTechs, FinTech Financial Crime Exchange, London 3 May 2017
• Virtual Currencies and Financial Crime: Challenges and Opportunities, Royal United Services Institute, London, 27 March 2017
• “Cryptocurrencies and Terrorist Financing: A Risk, But Hold the Panic,” Royal United Services Institute, 2 March 2017
• Making Innovation Flow: Instruments and Innovations for Enhancing Financial Intelligence, 2 August 2016
• Targeting Security Threats Using Financial Intelligence: The US Experience in Public-Private Information Sharing Since 9/11, 13 April 2016,
• “Black gold’s black market,” Money Laundering Bulletin, 23 February 2015,
• “Getting their hands dirty – the illegal charcoal trade,” Money Laundering Bulletin, 20 October 2014
• “Animal attraction 2: hunting the hunters,” Money Laundering Bulletin, 21 April 2014
• “Animal attraction – the illegal trade in wildlife,” Money Laundering Bulletin, 1 March 2014