This week, Vincent is joined by Huda Ismael, a financial investigator with 12+ years at the Central Bank of Egypt, now a Policy Leader Fellow at EUI. They explore the world of anti-money laundering, from traditional scams to the rise of digital payments and cryptocurrencies. Huda shares personal experiences and highlights the international cooperation needed to stay ahead of modern financial crime.

Meet the guest
Huda Ismael has over 12 years of experience at the Central Bank of Egypt, specialising in money laundering and terrorist financing investigations. Right now, she is at the European University Institute as a Policy Leader Fellow, where her work focuses on the "Regulation of emerging digital payments to combat Financial Crimes in the Middle East." You can find her contact details here as well, or you can follow her on her LinkedIn. 

In our conversation, she also elaborates on her future beyond the EUI: she aspires to be the central point of reference for Middle Eastern countries on how they can counter modern money laundering strategies, and how they can use modern technology to create a robust and safe payment system! 

Recommendation of the week
Huda’s first recommendation is actually simply brilliant: it’s financial advice on how to prevent scams for yourself! Beyond this, she recommends two movies on the topic: 

• The Wizard of Lies (directed by Barry Levinson): a movie on the fall of Bernie Madoff. You can check out the trailer here. Even though its cast is full of Oscar-Starts (Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer I had actually never heard of this movie before! 
• The Big Short (directed by Adam McKay) is a contemporary classic on the causes of the housing/mortgage market crisis that made the global financial system collapse in 2008. Especially the scene of Margot Robbie in a bubble bath explaining the stock market is noteworthy!