Summary of the 2016 US Threat Assessment

Tweet The Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community (the “Report“) prepared by the Director of National Intelligence on February 9, 2016, is a very interesting read from a counter-terrorism perspective, and essential reading for any bank in respect of assessing client and regional risks. Generally, the Report is dead on in respect of […]

Canada and the fake refugee passport issue

Tweet Fake refugees — A crisis within a crisis It seems to becoming clear that it is not reasonably possible to rely on the identity documents of any persons who claim Syrian or Iraqi refugee status from 2014 onwards, the time in which the Islamic State acquired the capacity to create authentic passports. Since at […]

New US law brands journalists and humanitarian aid workers as terrorist risk

Tweet In this story in Quartz, we explore how a new US law, HR158, the Visa Waiver Program Improvement Amendment Act 2015, will result in journalists and humanitarian aid works, and many others being branded a terrorist risk for visiting Iraq, Syria, Iran and the Sudan, and how the new law will affect the ability […]

France’s top lawyer says there’s no reason to be optimistic on terrorism front

Tweet Francois Molins, France’s top prosecutor, says that the risk of terrorism is becoming larger, more multi-faceted and complex. In this interview (en francais), Maitre Molins talks about the threat of terrorism in France and some of the investigation and prosecution challenges in respect of counter-terrorism. No reason for optimism in terrorism Mr. Molins said […]

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 […]

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 […]

‘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, […]