Terrorism financing

The financing of terrorism involves providing finance or financial support to individual terrorists or non-state actors. Some countries maintain a list of terrorist organizations and have money laundering laws, which are also used to combat providing finance for those organizations.'This chain of funding shows a clear correlation between transaction laundering and terrorism, using legitimate marketplaces to conduct illegal activity (in this case, selling counterfeit shoes) and then using the proceeds to launder money for terrorists.' The financing of terrorism involves providing finance or financial support to individual terrorists or non-state actors. Some countries maintain a list of terrorist organizations and have money laundering laws, which are also used to combat providing finance for those organizations. Some countries have anti-money laundering and terror financing laws. The United States Patriot Act, passed after the September 11 attacks, gives the government anti-money laundering powers to monitor financial institutions. The Patriot Act has generated a great deal of controversy in the United States since its enactment. The United States has also collaborated with the United Nations and other countries to create the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program. Laws created attempted to thwart the financing of terrorism (CFT) and money laundering. Initially the focus of CFT efforts was on non-profit organizations, unregistered money services businesses (MSBs) (including so called underground banking or ‘Hawalas’) and the criminalisation of the act itself. The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) made nine special recommendations for CFT (first eight then a year later added a ninth). These nine recommendations have become the global standard for CFT and their effectiveness is assessed almost always in conjunction with anti-money laundering. The FATF Blacklist (the NCCT list) mechanism was used to coerce countries to bring about change. A 2008 FATF report on terrorism financing noted the importance of links between financial tools and wider counter-terrorist activity to combat terrorist financing. The United States Patriot Act, passed after the September 11 attacks, gives the government anti-money laundering powers to monitor financial institutions. The Patriot Act has caused controversy in the United States since its enactment. The United States has also collaborated with the United Nations and other countries to create the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program. Many initiatives have stemmed from the USA PATRIOT Act such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which focuses specifically on money laundering and financial crimes. The United Nations Security Council acquired Resolution 1373 after the 9/11 attacks. This resolution is applied to all states, making sure that they deny all financial aid to those who participate in terrorist activities. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act was put in place in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. A report shown that in 2009 it aided in blocked around $20 million and another $280 million that came from State Sponsors of Terrorism.