US approves law limiting access to the US for people who visited or are from Iran, Iraq, Syria & Sudan

Tweet A “Terrorist Risk” Following the terrorist attack in San Bernadino on December 2, 2015, an 11-month-old relatively dormant bill to amend an American law to impose visa restrictions on select foreign nationals entering the US gained traction when it was rapidly enacted in the US. US Bill H.R. 158, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement […]

Is there a terrorism risk for Canada in accepting 25,000 refugees?

Tweet Terrorist risks for refugees There appears to be a debate that has the potential to escalate in this country in respect of whether there are risks for Canada in taking in 25,000 Syrian refugees. No decision is ever risk-free. The decision to accept Syrian refugee is no different – it is not risk free. […]

A difficult issue facing the refugee crisis – the fake Syrian refugee

Tweet Complicated Growing Use of Fake Syrian Passports According to several recent news reports, many refugees and migrants entering, or who have entered, the EU are doing so with false Syrian passports, creating what may be the biggest mass fraud of our time by sheer volume. There are terrorism risks that threaten international security because […]

Nigeria says US$150 billion stolen from state coffers in 10 years by politically exposed persons

Tweet Whopping $150 Billion Stolen from Nigeria in 10 Years Nigeria’s new President, Muhammadu Buhari, today said that the government believes that its officials have stolen approximately US$150 billion from the state in the past ten years.  In anti-money laundering law, high ranking government officials with access to state property and assets are politically exposed persons […]

‘Twitter terrorist’ a danger, says panel at ACAMS Conference

Tweet The Lawyers Weekly has a good story covering the ACAMS Conference in Toronto’s panel on terrorist financing in which we participated with FINTRAC, Standard Chartered and the OPP to discuss the risks and issues of terrorism threats in Canada. The article, available here, discusses Ontario and security concerns, as well as how FINTRAC deals […]

In 2015, more countries become terrorist hotspots; Canada moves up ranks to become 35th in terrorism threat index; US moves up to 17th place

Tweet US and Canada move up on the terrorism threat index 2014 and thus far in 2015, have been marked by a dramatic increase in terrorist incidents and in the number of countries that have been pulled into terrorist activity and for which financial institutions have been used for terrorist financing. Western countries are becoming […]

Defector from UK to Islamic State releases e-book that sheds some light on trade-based terrorist financing

Tweet Ebook on ISIS An ISIS defector from the UK has published an e-book called “A Brief Guide to the Islamic State” (2015 Edition) that is posted on a popular social media called Internet Archive and no despite its offensive content and recruitment purpose, no government is ordering social media companies to remove terrorist content. […]

France to limit cash and ‘anonymous’ transactions; introduces new law; et mobilise contre le terrorisme avec l’investissement de €736 million

Tweet €736 Million Investment in Counter-Terrorism Infrastructure Le gouvernement français a décrété une “mobilisation générale” contre le terrorisme, annonçant la création de 2,680 emplois et le déblocage de €736 millions sur trois ans. Le Premier ministre a présenté des mesures visant à mieux lutter contre les filières suspectes, notamment via internet et dans les prisons, […]

American Banker – Why banks should be concerned about hackers taking on counter terrorist financing

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 […]

The Jihad Express –> Gaziantep Turkey still ISIS’ conduit city of choice

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 […]