NEWS: Twelve international FIUs led by US, Germany, Israel and Holland announce task force to target Hamas funds

By ALISHA HOULIHAN for AML Intelligence

TWELVE international FIUs have set up the so-called “Counter Terrorist Financing Taskforce – Israel (CTFTI)” to target Hamas.

In a statement today, US FIU, FinCEN, said the 12 countries had “established
an international task force immediately following the brutal terror attacks by Hamas against Israel on October 7.”

“The purpose of the task force is to combine and strengthen the efforts to disrupt the international money flows related to Hamas and support global anti-terrorism efforts through the coordination of financial intelligence and information sharing,” the US Treasury’s FinCEN said.

The importance of the private sector in identifying and mitigating terrorists’ use of the global financial system was highlighted by the group.

CTFTI said there would be close coordination “with financial institutions and technology companies, to the furthest extent our respective authorities allow, is critical to identify and stop terrorist funding channels.”

The group includes the FIUs from Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany,
Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The task force is led by four Co-Chairs from Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States.

It said the October 7 terror attacks on Israel “served as a grave reminder of a core mission of our FIUs: to detect, disrupt and prevent the financing of terrorism.”

The Task Force has committed to:

• Enhance financial intelligence on terrorist-financing related matters and associated financial flows and economic activities;
• Expedite and increase sharing of financial intelligence in terrorist financing-related matters and associated financial flows and economic activities;
• Discuss FIU best practices, lessons learned, and opportunities for additional actions and partnerships to combat and disrupt terrorist financing activities;
• Strengthen and facilitate working relationships between FIUs and competent public authorities and the private sector addressing this threat.

“The Task Force Members also commit to coordinating closely with domestic law enforcement, prosecutors, and other competent government authorities, within the Task Force Members’ respective legal authorities, to achieve the goals of this task force.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article

If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!