Biography

Dr Branislav Hock’s work sits at the intersection of criminology, socio-legal studies and social policy. He examines how corruption, fraud and money laundering are enabled through cross-border markets, secrecy and organisational practices—and how regulation, enforcement and compliance can better prevent harm and protect communities.

Branislav is the author of Extraterritoriality and International Bribery: A Collective Action Perspective (Routledge, 2020) and a co-author of Economic Crime: From Conception to Response (Routledge, 2022) and Trade-Based Money Laundering: Compliance and the Law (Routledge, 2026). He has published extensively across criminology and socio-legal outlets, and produces practitioner-facing work to support evidence-led policy and professional practice in economic crime and cross-border enforcement.

Hock plays an active field-building role internationally by creating and leading platforms that shape research agendas and connect scholarship with practice. He is founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Criminology and a founding trustee and Executive Secretary of the International Society of Economic Criminology (ISEC), and he has helped develop professional training initiatives in economic crime and anti-money laundering.

Alongside his academic work, Branislav contributes expertise to policy and practitioner audiences through briefings, practitioner-facing publications and collaborative work with European and UK stakeholders on economic crime prevention and response, including engagement with bodies such as the OECD, EU institutions, and UK parliamentary/government audiences. He has also worked as a United Nations consultant and lead drafter of a legislative guide on combating fraud, covering investigation, international cooperation, prosecution, victim and witness protection, and national coordination.

At Portsmouth, he provides academic leadership in developing an internationally oriented economic crime portfolio that connects research, practice and education. He convenes research–practice exchange through flagship initiatives including the Winter Economic Crime Symposium and previously led the Economic Crime Research Group (2021–24). He also serves as UoA20 (Social Work & Social Policy) Co-Coordinator for Research Quality and Outputs, supporting REF-aligned output development and internal calibration.

Research interests

• Economic criminology and economic crime prevention

• Fraud, corruption and bribery (including cross-border enforcement and extraterritoriality)

• Money laundering, illicit finance and trade-based money laundering

• Corporate accountability, regulation and compliance

• Secrecy, transparency and “best practice” in economic-crime control

• Collective action, private ordering and economic governance

• Public procurement risk, integrity and anti-corruption controls

• Sanctions, enforcement architectures and unintended consequences

Media availability

I am available to the media to discuss: fraud and scams; anti-money laundering and illicit finance; corruption and bribery enforcement; corporate compliance and transparency; sanctions; cross-border policing, and evidence-based approaches to preventing and responding to economic crime.