IES is pleased to announce the publication of a new research article led by Prof (Dr.) Zina Kyriakou, alongside colleagues Dr. Tejroi Naipaul and Dr. Abdallah Elias, in collaboration with Dr. Rita Persaud of Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada) and Dr. Khagendra Nath Gangai of Sharda University (India).
The paper, titled "Passports, transactions and trust: Middle Eastern financial executives on money laundering risks in Caribbean Citizenship by Investment schemes," is published in Global Crime (Routledge, Taylor & Francis).
Caribbean Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes, which grant passports in exchange for financial contributions, have drawn growing international scrutiny over their potential money laundering risks. The study looks behind the headlines to explore how financial executives across the Middle East actually experience and manage these risks in their day to day work.
The research sheds light on the everyday pressures compliance professionals face, from balancing the needs of legitimate clients to managing mounting scrutiny from international correspondent banks, which increasingly treat Caribbean passports as a red flag. It offers a rare, grounded perspective on how anti-money laundering compliance plays out in practice, at the intersection of global mobility, regulation, and geopolitics.
This research reflects IES's continued commitment to producing scholarship that engages directly with real-world financial and regulatory challenges facing the region.
The article is available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17440572.2026.2689935
For further information about IES, please visit:
https://www.ies.education