News
U.S. Efforts to Train on Catching Terror Financiers Marred by Poor Coordination, Say Analysts
By Matt Squire
printU.S. efforts to train other countries to detect money movements associated with terrorism are hamstrung by poor government coordination, say counter-terrorism analysts. U.S. programs intended to help foreign jurisdictions implement counter terrorism financing (CTF) programs suffer from overlap and limited scope, according to Matthew Levitt, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The United States maintains such programs in numerous agencies of the U.S. State and Treasury departments. To date, U.S. programs-including those intended to train countries on regulation and intelligence systems-have focused on training only high-ranking officials, and have done little to stop CTF failures abroad,...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unanimously passed a bill aimed at foreign banks that provide financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
A transactional data handover mandated under a $102 million settlement disclosed Tuesday between the U.S. Justice Department and a defunct Beirut bank will likely lead to new financial crime investigations.
As U.S. officials work to shield American prepaid cards from abuse by financial crooks, foreign-issued stored value products remain a relatively easy avenue to move money into the United States anonymously.
A decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming sanctions against Jordan's largest bank for not turning over data on suspicious accounts could leave some financial institutions with an unwanted choice, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department Friday fined a Sioux Falls, SD bank branch $10 million for not properly reporting instances of suspected structuring and terrorist financing.
Increases in the rates that U.S. states tax cigarette purchasers has led to a rise in tobacco smuggling by organized crime groups and terrorist financiers, say governmental officials.
U.S. officials have launched a criminal investigation after linking data seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan to a Bank Secrecy Act report, counterterrorism investigators said Monday.
The U.S. Justice Department seized $150 million held for a Lebanese financial institution at accounts at five U.S. banks, as part of a crackdown on a purported terrorist financing network.
The U.S. Treasury Department's ability to freeze the funds of suspected terror financiers without a warrant is likely curtailed to emergency circumstances under a court order handed down last week.
Lawmakers are asking the U.S. Justice Department to clarify how it will prosecute individuals and groups that aid terrorist organizations, and whether those cases could involve innocent charity groups.
U.S. efforts to clamp down on terror financiers have been largely a success, a federal official told American lawmakers at a hearing in downtown Manhattan Tuesday.
U.S. lawmakers Thursday questioned how a blacklisted Lebanese terrorist organization works with political leaders and narco-traffickers in Latin America.
The Senate Thursday named David Cohen the nation's top sanctions official after legislators agreed to end a standoff over the U.S. Treasury Department's implementation of financial measures aimed at Iran.
Less than two years after U.S. diplomats mentioned concerns that Qatar's terrorist financing problems may be "the worst in the region," the country has done little to effectively limit the crime, say experts.
Egypt's decision to reopen the Gaza Strip's most important land-based port of entry will complicate international efforts to stem funding for designated terrorist group Hamas, say critics of the move.
Documents and data seized Sunday by the United States during the military raid that killed Osama Bin Laden will likely give officials insight into how the terror group's financial network operates, say analysts.
A Beirut-based lender acted as a "primary money laundering concern" by handling hundreds of millions of dollars for drug traffickers and a designated terrorist organization, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The disclosure that Saudi Arabia has become one of the world's largest sources of terrorist financing has raised questions about the willingness of intergovernmental groups to clamp down on nations with strong international alliances.
The release of hundreds of U.S. State Department cables as part of a massive leak of sensitive diplomatic communiqués is likely to prompt bank compliance departments to tweak risk rankings.
The United States released $197 million in aid for equipment and training in Mexico, as part of a regional program to combat drug trafficking and terrorism, according to government officials.