Tweet Summary of the Updates The US House Committee on Homeland Security released a number of updates and received testimony on the status of terrorist financing, terrorism and money laundering in the last few weeks with some interesting developments relevant to banks in terms of changes in terrorist financing typologies that should be added to […]
Tweet Financial regulators balance innovation and protection Financial regulators serve two important functions for the financial system. 1. They support growth and innovation where it could improve access to finance, or the delivery of financial services or grow the economy. 2. At the same time,  they  protect consumers and society at large by supervising the financial […]
Tweet In case you missed it, our article in American Banker‘s Bank Think entitled “We Shouldn’t Be Relying on Hackers to Stop Terrorism Financing” can be read here. The article discusses the recent phenomena of hackers in #OpISIS taking down the websites of the Islamic State and their stated promise to go after banks engaged […]
Tweet Jihad Express Gaziantep, Turkey appears to have emerged as a city of choice for terrorist financing and human trafficking for the Islamic State (“ISIS“) in the past twelve months. Gaziantep is a city close to the Syrian border and is considered one of the key “porous” border towns, where people and goods illegally sold […]
Tweet Terrorist Financing for ISIS using online Payment Processors and MSBs from US Routed to Turkey and Saudi Arabia The USDOJ indicted six people this week for terrorist financing who are alleged to have used money services businesses to finance the Islamic State (“ISIS“) and to supply war-related goods to members of ISIS. According to […]
Tweet Anti-Terrorism Act filing against global banks Yesterday, symbolically the day before Remembrance Day, several plaintiffs filed suit against a number of global foreign banks based in the United States under the Anti-Terrorism Act (the “ATA“), including HSBC Holdings Plc, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The plaintiffs are seeking damages that could […]
Tweet Arab Bank case changes anti-money laundering law In a weird twist of law, our global anti-money laundering laws that were designed to bankrupt terrorist organizations, and prevent the flow of illicit funds, may bankrupt many of our banks instead. Early this week, in Linde v. Arab Bank, the Arab Bank was found liable in a […]
Tweet According to this article in the New York Times, governments of the European Union have paid at least $125 million to terrorist organizations, mostly Al Qaeda, since 2008 and $66 million of that was paid last year. The US Treasury Department estimates the figure is closer to $165 million and believes that ransom payments […]
Tweet NSA program legal and necessary for counter-terrorism A U.S. federal court ruled today ruled that the National Security Agency (“NSA“) collection of personal telecommunications records is not only legal but is a valuable tool necessary to counter the threat of terrorism. According to various media reports, the NSA collects, views, categorizes and retains our […]
Tweet Two Somali women, who became US naturalized citizens, were convicted today in federal court in Minnesota of terrorist financing for providing material support to al-Shabaab, a listed terrorist entity in both the US and Canada. The two women collected funds from Somali foreign nationals in Canada and the US during a three year period […]