Dr Christopher Nell joined the Basel Institute on Governance in April 2026 as Specialist, Financial Crime Risk. In this role, he works on the Basel AML Index and related analysis, helping to strengthen datasets and methodologies, analyse risk indicators and support country risk assessments and publications.

Christopher is an economist with over a decade of experience in quantitative analysis, statistical modelling and empirical research on taxation, public financial management and governance. His previous roles covered tax evasion, fiscal transparency and integrity, energy and natural resource governance, and economic risk analysis and revenue forecasting.

Before joining the Basel Institute, Christopher worked in different countries including in Austria, Brazil, Chile, Mozambique, Rwanda and the United Kingdom. Among the positions he held were senior advisory roles at the Rwanda Revenue Authority and at Transparency International's national chapter in Mozambique through placements with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). He was also a researcher at the International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), provided consultancy services for the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and delivered training in statistical data analysis.

Christopher holds a PhD in Economics (with distinction) from the University of Vienna and an MSc in Economics (with distinction) from the University of Warwick. During his PhD studies he was also a visiting research scholar at Monash University.