New UN resolution reaffirms the close collaboration between the FATF and the United Nations in the fight against terrorist fighting

No country is immune from terrorism. All countries are at risk of being involved in the financing of terrorism, whether or not they themselves have been the victims of terrorist attacks.

The global threat from terrorism continues to grow and evolve, from returning terrorist fighters to right wing extremists. The threat of terrorism affects us all, as demonstrated by recent attacks around the world. FATF President Marshall Billingslea addressed the United Nations Security Council during the open debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, emphasising the importance of all countries taking effective action to prevent, detect and disrupt terrorist financing. FATF’s assessments of countries show the challenges countries face in doing this. FATF is working closely with its regional bodies and the UN to help countries develop the expertise and capacity necessary to combat the ever-evolving threat from terrorist financing more effectively.

Today, the Member States of the United Nations Security Council adopted a new resolution, UNSCR 2462, recognizing the essential role of the FATF in setting global standards to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation financing.

The resolution urges all countries to implement the FATF Recommendations, including the standards to assess the specific terrorist financing risks they face. FATF’s work to understand the evolving methods used to raise, use and move funds in support of terrorism is fundamental to develop effective responses at national and international level. In addition, the resolution requires countries to criminalize terrorist financing in line with FATF Recommendation 5, recognizing that countries must criminalize the financing of a terrorist act but also the financing of support to terrorist organizations and individual terrorists for any purpose, even in the absence of a link to a specific terrorist act. This is crucial; financing a single terrorist act may not be a large sum of money, but maintaining and evolving an entire terrorist organization requires significant financial resources.

The new resolution, which also welcomes FATF’s on-going work to mitigate the risks from virtual assets and virtual assets service providers, reaffirms the close collaboration between the FATF and the United Nations in the fight against terrorist fighting.