Arrest of the Queen of ISIS sheds light on terrorist financing through Lebanese charities for refugees

Tweet According to an article in the Washington Post, the arrest of Saja Hamid al Dulaimi, the ex-wife of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has shed light on terrorist financing methods used by ISIS in Lebanon. The Queen of ISIS was arrested in November 2014, attempting to enter Lebanon with her […]

UK’s proposed controversial counter-terrorism law deals with home-grown terrorists and their return, including permitting forced relocation of suspects

Tweet The UK’s tough and controversial new counter-terrorism legislation is slated to be reviewed by the House of Lords on Monday before being given Royal Assent in an expedited fashion. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill (HC 127) is intended to address a number of pressing terrorism and security issues facing the UK, in particular: (a) home-grown Islamic State […]

UK to prohibit insurance payments to terrorists for ransom and jail insurance executives for up to 14 years for terrorist financing on conviction

Tweet Ransom payments The UK government’s proposed Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill 127 (the “Counter-Terrorism & Security Act“), now at Second Reading in the UK Parliament, will prohibit insurance companies from making ransom payments to terrorists and terrorist organizations. The provision would amend §17, the counter-terrorism financing part of the UK Terrorism Act 2000, to make it […]

Is the ATM Global Network Unwittingly Used for Terrorist Financing?

Tweet We’re pleased to announce that Christine Duhaime is giving a presentation on the issue of “How the ATM Network Globally is Unwittingly Used for Terrorist Financing & Ways to Prevent it” at the 2015 Interac Conference in Ottawa. After a spouse of a member of the Islamic State Tweeted to the world from ar-Raqqah, […]

Canada introduces anticipated Protection of Canada From Terrorists Act

Tweet New Anti-Terrorism Measures The Government of Canada released its proposed new anti-terrorism legislation today, entitled the Protection of Canada From Terrorists Act, Bill C-44 (the “PCFT“). The material part of the PCTF amends the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and is quite short. It does as follows: Clarifies that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (“CSIS“) has […]

Islamic State – ISIS funded by sales of oil, captured women and taxes Christians must pay to stay alive; and how banks are used to finance terrorism

Tweet Terrorist groups are not a financial island This article has been updated and replaced with the White Paper on ISIS’ Terrorist Financing available here.

ISIS puts terrorist financing back on global political agenda

Tweet The key issue at the International Conference on Peace and Security in Iraq today was terrorist financing – how the ISIS got to be financed thus far and how to disrupt its financing. The Conference, convened by the President of France and of Iraq, was convened to discuss ways to deal with the growing threat […]

News report says that $125 million paid to listed terrorist groups for ransom payments

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 […]

UN Security Council calls on ban of oil trades from listed terrorist groups

Tweet Listed terrorist group takes over energy infrastructure The Security Council of the United Nations today called on its members not to engage in financial or commercial transactions with listed terrorist groups, in particular involving the sale of oil from Syria or Iraq that would involve the financing of terrorism. Anti-terrorism and sanctions laws In […]

Review of high risk countries for money laundering

Tweet The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF“) has released its list of high risk jurisdictions for money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Reporting entities are generally required to apply enhanced due diligence when dealing with funds from jurisdictions that are high risk. The high risk countries are: Vietnam Syria Iran Kenya Ecuador Korea Ethiopia Indonesia […]