Dr. Ingrida Kerušauskaitė, a senior research fellow at the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences, participated in the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, which took place on 31st of August – 7th of September at Jesus College, University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
The Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime is hosted by Jesus College within the University of Cambridge, with the support of many governmental and academic institutions around the world. Over more than forty years, the Symposium has established itself as a leading forum for the discussion and analysis of issues related to economically motivated crime and misconduct and its prevention and control. In recent years, the symposium has attracted around 2,000 participants including public officials, multilateral and non-governmental organisation staff, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, legislators, financial intermediaries and their advisers, compliance and technology personnel, legal and accounting practitioners and academics, from over 100 countries. This year, the Symposium focused on cross-border crime.
Dr Kerušauskaitė played various roles in the Symposium. On Tuesday the 2nd of September, she spoke on the alternative programme on the ‘International networks for the study of economic crime (INSEC)’, discussing the challenges and benefits of commissioned research projects. Dr Kerušauskaitė raised issues relating to publication requirements and confidentiality, political influence and conflicting academic and project timelines. She also highlighted the benefits of commissioned research being more likely to influence policymaking, and benefits relating to access to key stakeholders and data.
Dr Kerušauskaitė curated the alternative programme on Wednesday the 3rd of September, on ‘Strategic corruption, illicit finance and foreign interference’. Dr Kerušauskaitė delivered opening remarks for the alternative programme, introducing the complex and increasingly relevant themes to a diverse audience of speakers and participants from around the globe, including prosecutors, law enforcement representatives, government officials, journalists, academics, non-government organisation representatives, as well as private sector banking, legal and investment professionals. Dr Kerušauskaitė’s remarks drew from her recently published article ‘Practical Challenges Mitigating Strategic Corruption’, co-authored with Professor Caryn Peiffer, as well as her on-going research agenda on strategic corruption.
On Saturday the 6th of September, as part of session 21 of the Symposium’s programme focusing on ‘New approaches to fighting cross-border crime’, Dr Kerušauskaitė discussed her work on moving beyond the overly simplistic discussions of political will in the context of corruption. Dr Kerušauskaitė presented her Octopus framework to deconstruct the drivers and blockers of effective action against corruption.
On Sunday the 7th of September, together with Ruta Nimkar, she co-convened a think tank session on ‘Following the money in irregular migration’. Symposium think tank sessions discuss underexplored issues relating to financial crime and jointly plan research pathways and avenues on emerging topics. The discussions served to identify future research avenues and potential collaboration opportunities among the think tank session’s participants.
Finally, Dr Kerušauskaitė was honoured to deliver the vote of thanks at the Symposium formal dinner on Wednesday the 3rd of September.
The Symposium is a truly unique avenue that provides opportunities for both formal and in-depth informal engagement among leading counter-financial crime experts globally. Diverse expertise shared and networks established and strengthened at such fora provide crucial resources for international collaboration and future research.