The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Terror Financing
The FATF is set to release a comprehensive analysis on terror financing, presenting cases from its global network. This report aims to enhance global measures against terror financing and will be accompanied by a webinar to improve understanding of emerging threats in both public and private sectors.
FATF's Role and Efforts
- The FATF sets global standards to prevent money laundering, terror financing, and the financing of weapons of mass destruction.
- Over the past decade, the FATF has worked to help countries address terror financing risks, including threats from social media, crowd funding, and virtual assets.
- The organization supports over 200 jurisdictions to enhance their counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) frameworks.
Upcoming Report and Tools
- The upcoming report will compile case studies from member jurisdictions, focusing on identifying gaps in existing CFT systems.
- It will be the first time that "state-sponsored terrorism" is featured as a source of terror financing.
- The FATF has also developed a terrorist financing risk and context toolkit to help evaluators assess risks more effectively.
Condemnation of Terrorist Attacks
The FATF has condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 tourists. It emphasized that such attacks could not happen without the financial support and means to transfer funds.
India's Position on Pakistan
- India is intensifying efforts to hold Pakistan accountable for supporting terrorism, preparing a dossier to urge Pakistan's re-listing on the FATF grey list.
- Concerns include Pakistan sheltering terrorists, misusing development funds, and failing to pass critical legislation like the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
- India has opposed recent loans for Pakistan, citing increased defense expenditures as undermining claims of economic vulnerability.
Pakistan was removed from the FATF grey list in 2022 after showing progress on its anti-money laundering and CFT frameworks.