On 16 May 2024, at a briefing organized by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Mr. T. Raja Kumar, President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), briefed members and observers of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in New York. Highlighting FATF efforts and challenges faced in the implementation of the international standards against the financing of terrorism, Mr. Kumar shared his thoughts on global progress achieved towards compliance with those standards. He also met with the Executive Director of CTED to discuss synergies between the two organizations.
?
Opening the briefing, Assistant Secretary-General Ms. Natalia Gherman, Executive Director of CTED, expressed appreciation to the FATF for its active engagement with the CTC and its Executive Directorate. She also noted “CTED’s continuous cooperation with the FATF and its regional style bodies as an important channel for information exchange both with respect to the implementation progress in individual Member States and regional or global trends”.
?
?
?
?
H.E. Mr. Nacim Gaouaoui, Chargé d’Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations emphasized “the critical role that the FATF plays in setting global standards to combat the financing of terrorism and proliferation,” adding that “the close cooperation between the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and the FATF is essential for reinforcing the international counter-terrorism architecture.”
In his briefing, the FATF President provided an update on the status of the work of the FATF on countering the financing of terrorism, in particular the recent revision of FATF Recommendation 8, its interpretative note and best practices paper on protecting the non-profit sector for terrorist financing (TF) abuse; preventing misuse of virtual assets and crowdfunding platform for TF activity; and regular updates on sources of ISIL / Al-Qaida and their affiliates financing.
He underscored that over the next two years, the FATF will take a number of steps to bring the fight forward against the scourge of terrorist financing. “We have an ambitious programme of work ahead to continue this fight. We know that we can count on our colleagues from the 缅北禁地to deliver in partnership with us. We look forward to taking all of these initiatives forward in a complementary fashion with ongoing 缅北禁地initiatives.”
Members of the Committee expressed their appreciation for the briefing provided by the FATF President, noting the importance of enhanced cooperation between the CTC, CTED and FATF to support Member States throughout the world in their efforts to tackle the fast-evolving threat of terrorism financing, including the context of new and emerging technologies. Several observer entities also highlighted their productive cooperation with the FATF.
?
?
?
?
In addition, CTED held a hybrid-format discussion with the FATF Executive Secretary Ms. Violaine Clerc and Head of FATF Risk and Data Unit, Mr. Michael Fowler, to determine further partnership avenues and identify additional ways to work closer together in the context of monitoring compliance with CFT requirements, analyzing TF risks and trends, and supporting Member States in keeping pace in their responses.
Background?
The is a global inter-governmental organization comprising 40 members and a Global Network of over 200 member countries and jurisdictions represented by the nine FATF-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs). The FATF is primarily responsible for the assessment of risk and development of risk-responsive standards for combating money-laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (AML/CTF/CPF). To monitor the implementation of FATF Standards, the FATF and its Global Network conduct extensive peer reviews and monitor the adoption of follow up corrective actions.
?