Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) is related to anti-money laundering (AML) as the techniques used to launder money are similar to those used to conceal the sources of, and uses for, terrorist financing.

CFT funding may be derived from either criminal activity or legitimate organizations such as businesses and charities. Terrorists transfer funds, whether legal or illicit, in order to conceal their source and objective.

The objective of terrorist financing is to support various activities including providing shelter, training, fraudulent documentation, and weapons.

After the terrorist attacks in the United States, governments, national and international regulatory bodies worldwide, intensified their AML activities and extended them to include CFT.

This legislation includes the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (UNSC1373), EU Third Money Laundering Directive (3MLD), UK Terrorism Act and The USA PATRIOT Act.

In addition to this legislation, the US Executive Order 13224 (2001) enables the disruption of financial or other terrorist support networks by authorizing the US government to designate and block the assets of terrorism related foreign individuals and entities.

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) executes the Order  through its Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Program.

OFAC’s Sanctions have become increasingly important in recent years due to their extraterritorial scope by which

a great number of national and international financial service organizations can be potentially held liable. Violating OFAC sanctions not only damages the institution’s reputation but may result in substantial fines and criminal action.

It is imperative that financial service providers have appropriate controls in place to ensure compliance with sanctions laws.

Mongoose Global Intelligence provides instant searching capability to thousands of critical global watch lists from national and supranational enforcement agencies.

The watch lists are continuously and automatically monitored and updated providing the most current information .