Democracy and the rule of law are fragile, and require (pro)active protection against crimes that undermine democratic societies governed by the rule of law (ondermijning). At worst, these offences erode public and private institutions and –irreversibly– damage their representatives’ integrity. These crimes themselves and their most corrosive effects can best be understood as complex adaptive systems (e.g., criminal ecosystems, rule-of-law institutions, financial markets). Under complexity science as theoretical framework, COMCRIM studies organized subversive crime, adaptive criminal networks, and interventions in a smart and comprehensive manner. This interdisciplinary –financial– public-private consortium follows (financial) flows on human trafficking, corruption and money laundering.