Global Anti-Terrorism Financing Group Challenged by Syria's Application
By Matthew Levitt
This week, the Egmont Group -- an international body of more than 100 national financial intelligence units (FIUs) -- is holding its annual plenary session and working group meetings in Bermuda. One of the issues on the agenda is whether to admit a Syrian FIU into the group. Although Syria may in fact technically qualify for membership despite some significant shortcomings, extending membership to a state the United States regards as a sponsor of terrorism would raise serious questions about Egmont's standards and continued efficacy in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
FIUs are centralized, national agencies responsible for detecting and fighting terrorism financing and money laundering. In the United States, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Treasury Department, serves as Washington's FIU and Egmont representative (see "An Iranian Financial Intelligence Unit: Less than Meets the Eye," by Michael Jacobson).
The process for joining Egmont does not include an evaluation of a country's record in supporting or countering terrorism. Instead, it is based on a technical assessment of the legal framework supporting the nation's FIU, beginning with whether or not the unit is already up and running. At the outset of the membership process, Egmont's outreach working group obtains a contact address and name, determines that money laundering and terrorism financing legislation is in force, assesses the operational status of an FIU, establishes the FIU's willingness to join Egmont, gauges the possibility of that unit exchanging information with other FIUs, and performs additional operational assessment via an onsite visit. Upon receipt of a written recommendation from the outreach working group chair, Egmont's legal working group conducts an in-depth assessment of the FIU before making a final recommendation to the heads of Egmont-member FIUs.
You can read the remainder of this post on the Washington Institute site.
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