Ep 62: OSINT - A Key Tool for Finance and Compliance and China’s Green BRI

With guests Dr. Oriol Caudevilla and Skip Schiphorst

The Green Belt and Road Initiative. Much has been said about the BRI, known in China as the One Belt One Road – and sometimes labelled the New Silk Road. A global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations, the scheme is composed of six urban development land corridors linked by road, rail, energy, and digital infrastructure, and the Maritime Silk Road linked by the development of ports.

The idea was simple enough, transport raw materials to China while carrying its manufactured wares to participating nations.

Dr. Oriol Caudevilla is a highly regarded voice on all things fintech. He fleshes out what he means by the “Green BRI” because on the surface, the concept seems almost seems counter intuitive as vast amounts of carbon/energy are expended to carry resources towards China and goods from it. As he points out, there are there green efficiencies and other benefits to be had from the BRI that will meaningfully impact the planet's climate.

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Non-English Language Online Research. Skip Schiphorst is course coordinator and an instructor for the Swiss-based firm I-Intelligence’s Arabic, Russian and Chinese open-source intelligence courses. He shares the importance of being able to search for OSINT in languages other than English and how it has a direct application to lawyers, compliance officers and investigators in regional hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore – and the banking and financial institutions and multinational corporations they serve. As he emphasizes, it is often easier to navigate the internet in Chinese than English due to simplicity in structure of the former language.

Skip describes what it was like to grow up in Switzerland as a young man of Dutch ancestry, his decision to join the Marines in 1997 and how his views on the world and the degree to which outside powers can use military force to change cultures and nations changed over the course of his service. He believes this to be the Asian century as many Western nations pursue more nativist and isolationist policies. 

He also talks about the value of OSINT and multi-lingual research for due diligence in a mergers and acquisitions context, as well as for know-your-customer searches in anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions compliance for banks.

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