- Second batch of Masters in Financial and Economic Security set to equip professionals for evolving threats
- RRU-IICA programme brings law, finance, investigation, technology and regulation under one academic roof
- First cohort drew professionals from banking, law enforcement, investigation, academia and legal services
- NSE interaction highlights growing threat landscape around digital finance, VDAs and technology-enabled crime
- IRDAI joins the programme as Knowledge Partner for the second cohort
- One-year hybrid course opens a new professional pathway in India’s economic-security architecture
NE LAW, BUSINESS & EDUCATION BUREAU
MUMBAI, OCT 2
The next battleground for national security may not always be a border—it could be a balance sheet, a digital wallet, a cross-border transaction or an algorithm. Recognising the rapidly changing nature of financial and economic crime, Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) is building a specialised professional ecosystem through the second batch of its Masters in Financial and Economic Security (MFES) programme.
RRU, an Institution of National Importance under the Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, is set to launch the second cohort of the one-year hybrid programme in November 2026. The initiative follows the first cohort of more than 40 professionals drawn from banking, law enforcement, investigation, academia, entrepreneurship and legal services.
The programme is designed for working professionals, combining academic instruction with practical exposure to contemporary financial and economic-security challenges. The official programme framework includes financial and economic crime laws, regulatory compliance, finance and economics, financial reporting and frauds, financial-crime risk management and financial forensics, emerging technologies and economic crimes, along with dissertation work.
From financial crime to economic security
The evolution of financial systems has also changed the nature of threats confronting institutions and economies. Money laundering, fraud, cyber-enabled financial crimes, corporate misconduct and other complex offences increasingly intersect with technology, regulation and national security.
Against this backdrop, the MFES programme seeks to create professionals capable of understanding the entire chain—from prevention and detection to investigation, compliance, enforcement and risk management.
Speaking at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Mumbai, on September 28, Sunil Kavishwar, Director, School of Criminal Law and Military Law, RRU, highlighted the need to protect the integrity and resilience of financial systems as financial crimes move beyond conventional forms.
He pointed to emerging challenges involving virtual digital assets, terror financing, proliferation financing and technology-enabled financial crimes, while stressing that sophisticated technologies are increasingly being exploited by criminal networks.
Building a multidisciplinary professional cadre
Kavishwar said RRU was working towards developing a global platform for capacity building, specialised training and knowledge exchange in financial and economic security.
The programme’s distinctive feature lies in bringing together academicians, investigators, regulators, legal professionals, financial-sector specialists and practitioners. The official MFES curriculum similarly emphasises case studies, simulations, expert interactions and real-world exposure alongside academic learning.
The first cohort’s participants included professionals from diverse institutions and sectors. The programme’s first edition also provided exposure to economic-security issues through institutional interactions, including a campus immersion involving the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.
‘A specialised professional cadre’
Harshit Singh, Teaching Cum Research Officer, RRU, stressed the importance of developing a specialised cadre capable of responding to emerging financial and economic-security challenges.
Such expertise, he said, can contribute to strengthening India’s economic resilience, supporting sustainable growth and enhancing India’s role in global financial-security and stability efforts.
The programme therefore moves beyond treating financial crime simply as a legal or enforcement issue. Its multidisciplinary approach brings law, economics, finance, forensic investigation, compliance, technology and security into a common learning framework.
Why the financial sector needs security thinkers
The changing financial landscape has created an unusual challenge for regulators, financial institutions, investigators and businesses: innovation that makes transactions faster and more accessible can also create new vulnerabilities.
The official MFES programme identifies financial forensics, anti-money-laundering frameworks, fraud risk management, regulatory compliance, cyber-enabled financial crime and emerging technologies among the areas requiring specialised understanding.
For banks, securities markets, insurers, corporates, regulators and enforcement agencies, this creates a growing demand for professionals who can understand both how financial systems work and how those systems can be exploited.
That is where programmes such as MFES seek to bridge the traditional divide between academic knowledge and field-level expertise.
A national-to-global classroom
The second cohort is open to both Indian and international participants, widening the programme’s scope beyond a purely domestic perspective. IRDAI is the Knowledge Partner for the second cohort.
The official programme structure provides for a hybrid learning model, two campus immersions, site visits, interaction with global experts and practitioner-oriented learning. It is designed specifically to enable working professionals to pursue specialised education without stepping away from their professional responsibilities.
The programme also reflects the changing understanding of economic security itself: protecting the financial system is increasingly intertwined with protecting institutional integrity, investor confidence, corporate governance and national economic resilience.
From Viksit Bharat to a secure economic ecosystem
As India seeks to expand the scale and sophistication of its economy, the capacity to prevent and respond to financial and economic crimes becomes an important component of institutional resilience.
The RRU-IICA initiative is positioned in that wider national context—creating professionals who can work across disciplinary boundaries and understand the increasingly complex relationship between finance, technology, law and security.
The MFES degree is awarded by RRU in collaboration with IICA. The programme is open to graduates with at least 60% marks and requires a minimum of three years’ work experience, preferably in legal, financial, regulatory, corporate or related institutions.
The first cohort’s experience and the second cohort’s expanded international orientation indicate an emerging academic and professional field in which financial intelligence is becoming an integral part of economic security.
For a digitally connected economy, the message from the NSE interaction is unmistakable: the ability to protect wealth, markets and institutions increasingly depends on the ability to understand the crimes and vulnerabilities that move through them.
