Maria Nizzero is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI. Her research examines the UK economic crime landscape, asset recovery, with a focus on sanctioned frozen assets and proceeds of kleptocracy, and the foreign policy dimension of illicit finance, including active financial measures. Her other research interests include the EU financial crime response, the serious and organised crime-terror nexus, and financial crime involving high value goods.

Prior to joining RUSI in 2021, Maria worked for a London-based agency specialising in financial crime and previously for financial news company Dow Jones. She holds a LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy from the University of Barcelona, and a MA in International Relations from the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI).

Maria is currently completing her Ph.D. in International Public Law and International Relations at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where she was also Associate Professor for four years, teaching the class of EU Politics and Institutions.