Preventing Abuse of the Non-Profit Sector to Finance Terrorism - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Project on Preventing Abuse of the Non-Profit Sector to Finance Terrorism

Special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee

United Nations, New York 2012-11-20

The Need for Technical Assistance

• Growth of the NPO sector
• FATF Recommendation 8
• Lack of knowledge and understanding on the threat
• f terrorism financing abuse of the NPO sector
• A need to identify and implement solutions

Project Goals

• Develop a common understanding of sound

regulatory approaches to counter the risk of terrorism financing to the NPO sector

• Identify how states can best balance different policy
• bjectives to achieve effective regulation
• Things to balance:

– Transparency and Privacy – Accountability and Proportionality – Enforcement and Self-Regulation

Events

London Meeting – January 2011 Bangkok – March 2011 Auckland – November 2011 Nairobi – March 2012 Buenos Aires – November 2012 Qatar – January 2013 New York Meeting – March 2013

Nature of the Problem

• If terrorist groups are abusing the NPO sector, where

are the doorways into the sector?

1. Finances 2. Operations 3. Material Resources 4. Personnel

• Important to understand how the NPO sector is

exploited in order to develop and use appropriate regulatory tools to combat its abuse Areas of NPO Sector Vulnerability

Case Study

Former VP and current President Former President and current Accountant

1) Some of the other organizations which Organization A is supplying funds to are believed to be connected to terrorist groups 2) Accounts used for money laundering 3) Persons 1 and 2 had both been involved in a money laundering conspiracy 1) Audit conducted reveals one of Organization A’s accounts is used for money laundering 2) Audit also reveals that unreported funds have been transferred through a special accounts 3) Information from the intelligence community reveals that Organizations B and C have terrorist links

Key Findings

• Need for a risk-based approach
• Need for a collaborative approach

– Between government ministries – Between jurisdictions – Between governments & NPOs

• Need for training

– Risk assessment – Outreach – Investigative techniques

The NPO sector is part of the solution…Not the Problem!

Next Steps

• New York Experts Meeting (March 2013)

– Insights into the Application of R.8 – Broadening the Understanding of the Risk

• Further Regional Events

– South Asia – Western Africa – Southern Africa

• Training

– Identify and Develop Training Materials – Facilitate Regional and Bilateral Training events