Sylvia Laksmi, an Indonesian national, is a renowned subject matter expert in the fields of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. Her speciality is in counter-terrorism, terrorist financing and financial crime studies. She has worked as a senior intelligence analyst in the Indonesian Financial Intelligence Unit in the specialized area of financial crimes intelligence investigations.

Sylvia obtained her PhD from the Strategic & Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University, examining Indonesian counter-terrorist financing policies and their impact on terrorist operations in Southeast Asia and Asia–Pacific. The thesis focuses on the rising abuse of charities, women and advanced technology in payment systems. The study will serve as a base for future studies where the growing threats of terrorism may potentially lead to a new era of cyberterrorism.

Apart from her research work, she’s also an established trainer who has provided training to government officers and private sector specialists domestically as well as at the international level. She holds a Bachelor of Political Sciences, which included a thesis on the Abu Sayyaf Group, from the University Padjadjaran (Indonesia), and an MSc focused on terrorist financing study from the University of Indonesia.