Latest news with #ComprehensiveUpdateonTerroristFinancingRisks'
The Hindu
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
India plays key role in bringing out FATF's latest report on terrorist financing risks
India was one of the key contributors to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) project for putting together the 'Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks' report that was released on Tuesday (July 9, 2025). It is learnt that the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and France were the co-leads for the project. India also played a significant role in bringing out the report, which has, for the first time,e recognised state sponsorship as a means to fund and support terrorism. 'We have long identified Pakistan as a state that sponsors terrorism. India's 2022 National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Money Laundering and Terror Financing flagged state-sponsored terrorism — particularly from Pakistan — as a major concern. Accordingly, all financial institutions, including banks, are required to do enhanced due diligence with respect to any transaction related to Pakistan,' said a government official. The findings highlighted in the FATF report are expected to reflect in the framing of subsequent NRAs of all the other countries. The United States, in its 2024 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment, has already noted that it faced terrorism threats from terror groups in Pakistan, apart from Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, and East Africa. 'Being an NRA, it is followed by all U.S. banks while adhering to their KYC guidelines. They are cautious about transactions with Pakistan, and this increases the cost of doing business for the Pakistani establishment and businesses. After this FATF Risk report — which carries higher precedence over NRAs — the U.S. and other countries will have to acknowledge the sources of state-sponsored terrorism in their risk assessments,' the official said. In the FATF report, the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog has considered the inputs received from delegations and publicly available sources of information. They indicated that certain terror outfits had been and continued to receive financial and other forms of support from several national governments. 'While the FATF has not developed a typology specific to state-sponsored terrorism, it has explicitly noted that the funding of terrorism, or the resourcing of a terrorist entity, by any state, is incompatible with adherence to the FATF Standards and mandate, as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and paragraphs 1(a) and 2(a) of UNSC Resolution 1373 (2001),' it said. The report recognised that the possibility of state-sponsored terrorism was a 'long-standing terror financing threat to international peace and security, as well as to the stability of regional financial and political systems.' 'Moreover, it undermines the effectiveness of FATF activities that are intended to support governments in adopting best practices to detect, deter, and otherwise disrupt terror financing,' it added. 'Among the various suspect modus operandi adopted for state sponsoring of terror outfits is the ongoing smuggling of oil from Iran to Pakistan. There is a high risk of funds so generated being used to finance terrorist activities,' said another official. According to the report, sham non-profit organisations are also being used by Pakistan-based terror outfits such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, both associated with the Al Qaeda, to raise, store, and move funds on the false pretext of charitable work. The outfits were reported to have abused humanitarian assistance programmes using such entities to finance their operational activities.
The Hindu
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Online gaming platforms increasingly being used by terrorists for propaganda, radicalisation, recruitment, and fundraising: FATF report
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in its 'Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks' report, on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) said online video games and gaming platforms were increasingly being used by terrorists and extremists to disseminate propaganda, recruit members, incite, and engage in radicalisation activities, and sometimes for fundraising. Although there are some doubts about the scalability of video games for terror financing given that they do not yet offer transactions of sufficiently high value, the report pointed out that data collected on micro-transactions and the sale of digital video game items from the past several years indicated that virtual transactions could be lucrative. 🆕 A new report by the FATF highlights serious and evolving terrorist financing risks and warns of gaps in countries' abilities to fully understand terrorism financing trends and respond effectively. Read the report: — FATF (@FATFNews) July 8, 2025 'Due to the lack of sufficient oversight and relative ease of exploitation of these systems, criminals can quickly launder large amounts of money through thousands of small transactions -- a method some terrorist groups are known to use. Furthermore, in-game voice and text chats that are known to have been used to recruit and incite lone-actor attacks can also provide terrorists with relatively secure platforms to solicit donations and provide guidance on how to conduct financial transactions securely to avoid detection,' it said. The FATF report said some occurrences of terrorist groups, including EoRMT [Ethnically or Racially Motivated Terrorism] organisations as well as Hezbollah, creating and selling their own video games, for both propaganda and financing purpose, could be found in opensource research materials. 'Transactions can also take place through in-game items, as it has been observed by some EoRMT groups. Game elements can indeed be purchased and donated to other player, without much traceability of transactions,' noted the report. In another trend, the report found that some games offered options of re-enacting a specific attack or allowing users to play from the terrorists' perspective. 'While such options can often be downloaded for free, the sales of the games themselves do generate revenue for their developers. The revenue can also come from donations during the gameplay,' it said, adding that ISIL had been reported to have used the exchange of video gaming points to fiat currency. 'Similarly, Al-Shabaab is reported to have abused an online gambling platform registered in the Caribbean for terror financing, underscoring the risk that arises across distant jurisdictions and the resulting challenges for detection and enforcement. There have also been reports of minors being involved in in-game transactions ultimately benefiting terrorists,' said the report. State sponsorship Besides, the report also highlight inputs indicating that certain terrorist organisations had been and continued to receive financial and other forms of support from several national governments. 'A variety of publicly available sources of information and delegations' inputs to this report indicate that certain terrorist organisations have been and continue to receive financial and other forms of support from several national governments. This can relate to all types of terrorist organisations, either those listed on UNSCRs [United Nations Security Council Resolutions] and/or domestic and regional designations lists,' said the report. It cited submissions by delegations on the trend by referring to the use of state sponsorship for terror financing either as fundraising technique or as part of the financial management strategy of certain organisations engaging in terrorist acts. 'Several forms of support have been reported, including direct financial support, logistical, and material support, or the provision of training,' said the report. The delegations also reported 'sanctions circumvention techniques' through trade and smuggling mechanisms where the national government concerned potentially played a supportive role. 'Schemes involving several commodities have also been reported, with for instance oil shipped to an intermediary country to be sold in gold, with gold later converted to cash in another jurisdiction,' it said.
