FATF’s global efforts on combating terrorist financing

Improve and update the understanding of terrorist financing risks

  • Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment Guidance This guidance aims to assist practitioners, and particularly those in lower capacity countries, in assessing terrorist financing risk, by providing good approaches, relevant information sources and practical examples based on country experience.
  • Financing of Recruitment for Terrorist Purposes Recruiting members and supporters is crucial to a terrorist organisation's survival. This report increases understanding of different recruitment approaches and their funding needs and will help authorities detect and disrupt recruitment activities for terrorist purposes.
  • Terrorist Financing in West and Central Africa This joint FATF-GIABA-GABAC report reveals a number of terrorist financing threats and vulnerabilities that are specific to the West and Central Africa region, and highlights the role of cash, including foreign currency. The report looks at the contextual factors and the challenges that the region faces to regulate financial products and sectors. The report highlights the need for countries in the region to work closer together as well as with the broader international community to identify and disrupt terrorist financing.
  • Risk of terrorist abuse in non-profit organisations Terrorist organisations need funds, material, personnel and public influence to carry out their illegal activities. Non-profit organisations NPO rely on the same capabilities to further their legitimate and good causes. This typologies report examines in detail, how and where NPOs are at risk of terrorist abuse and provides a number of red flag indicators to help all stakeholders identify and investigate possible cases of abuse.

Ensure that FATF Standards provide the framework for countries to tackle terrorist financing  

Improve and update the understanding of terrorist financing risks

  • The FATF Recommendations The FATF Recommendations are the basis on which all countries should meet the shared objective of tackling money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation. The FATF calls upon all countries to effectively implement these measures in their national systems.

Ensure countries are appropriately and effectively implementing the FATF Standards

  • FATF Methodology for assessing compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effectiveness of AML/CFT systems The FATF Methodology for assessing compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effectiveness of AML/CFT systems sets out the evaluation process.
  • Guidance on Criminalising Terrorist Financing This Guidance paper on the criminalisation of terrorist financing will help countries implement each of the requirements of Recommendation 5, and explains the various aspects that the terrorist financing offence must cover in national legal systems.
  • Best Practices on Combating the Abuse of Non-Profit Organisations The NPO community provides vitally important services around the world. However, this sector is also abused by terrorists and terrorist organisations, from the creation of fake charities to funnel money to terrorists, to the abuse of legitimate NPOs without the knowledge of its donors, management, or staff. With input from governments and the private sector, including NPOs, the FATF has revised its best practices, aimed at preventing misuse of NPOs for the financing of terrorism while, at the same time, respecting legitimate actions of NPOs.
  • Mutual Evaluations The FATF conducts peer reviews of each member on an ongoing basis to assess levels of implementation of the FATF Recommendations, providing an in-depth description and analysis of each country’s system for preventing criminal abuse of the financial system

 Identify countries with strategic deficiencies for terrorist financing.

  • High-risk and other monitored jurisdictions The FATF identifies jurisdictions with weak measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/CFT) in two FATF public documents that are issued three times a year. The FATF’s process to publicly list countries with weak AML/CFT regimes has proved effective.

 Promote effective domestic coordination and international cooperation to combat the financing of terrorism.

Key statements