3.7 Financing of Terrorism
يسري تنفيذه من تاريخ 13/7/2023(AML-CFT Law Articles 3.1, 4, 29.3, AML-CFT Decision Article 1)
The AML-CFT Law designates the financing of terrorism as a criminal offence, which is not subject to the statute of limitations. It defines the financing of terrorism as:
| • | Committing any act of money laundering, being aware that the proceeds are wholly or partly owned by a terrorist organisation or terrorist person or intended to finance a terrorist organisation, a terrorist person or a terrorism crime, even if it without the intention to conceal or disguise their illicit origin; or |
| • | Providing, collecting, preparing or obtaining proceeds or facilitating their obtainment by others with intent to use them, or while knowing that such proceeds will be used in whole or in part for the commitment of a terrorist offense, or committing such acts on behalf of a terrorist organisation or a terrorist person while aware of their true background or purpose. |
There are numerous risk factors that FIs should consider important when assessing their exposure to the risk of terrorist financing (see Section 4.1.1, Risk Factors), including geographic-, sector-, channel-, product-, service- and customer-specific risks.
In a 2019 report by MENAFATF, an assessment of the global threat posed by the financing of terrorism stated:
| “The number, type, scope, and structure of terrorist actors and the global terrorism threat are continuing to evolve. Recently, the nature of the global terrorism threat has intensified considerably. In addition to the threat posed by terrorist organisations such as ISIL, Al-Qaeda and other groups, attacks in many cities across the globe are carried out by individual terrorists and terrorist cells ranging in size and complexity. Commensurate with the evolving nature of global terrorism, the methods used by terrorist groups and individual terrorists to fulfil their basic need to generate and manage funds is also evolving. | |
| Terrorist organisations use funds for operations (terrorist attacks and pre-operational surveillance); propaganda and recruitment; training; salaries and member compensation; and social services. These financial requirements are usually high for large terrorist organisations, particularly those that aim to, or do, control territory. In contrast, the financial requirements of individual terrorists or small cells are much lower with funds primarily used to carry out attacks. Irrespective of the differences between terrorist groups or individual terrorists, since funds are directly linked to operational capability, all terrorist groups and individual terrorists seek to ensure adequate funds generation and management.”1 |
1 Social Media and Terrorism Financing: A joint project by Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering & Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force, APG/MENAFATF, January 2019, p.4.