The risks for national security from departing senior intelligence officials are widely recognized as serious challenges due to their previous access to highly classified information, exclusive insight into clandestine operations, and knowledge of special measures and techniques.

Therefore, intelligence services would be advised to carefully craft their exit policies and ensure that the departure of intelligence officials is handled correctly.

This thematic brief provides insights on approaches to exit strategies and retirement schemes for senior intelligence officials based on case studies from Croatia, the United Kingdom and Germany.