Participants during the virtual launch event for “CTED Trends Tracker | Evolving Trends in the Financing of Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ Activity: 2014 – 2024” on 12 November 2024.
On Tuesday, 12 November 2024, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) held a virtual launch event for its latest Trends Tracker on “Evolving Trends in the Financing of Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ Activity: 2014 – 2024.”
The Trends Tracker offers a brief examination of how financial flows related to foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) travel and activities have evolved over the past 10 years, reflecting the changes in their locations and circumstances. It highlights that the financial patterns associated with FTFs have demonstrated remarkable adaptability, shifting from relatively simple methods to increasingly sophisticated and technologically advanced approaches.
In his opening remarks, David Scharia, Director and Chief of Branch of CTED, said, “We foresee that technological advancements will continue to play an important role in the evolution of FTF financing, with an anticipated further increase and sophistication in exploitation of new and emerging financial technologies as they continue to spread across jurisdictions.”
Confirming the key findings of the Trends Tracker, the discussions underscored that the trends related to FTF financial activities have evolved in multiple dimensions. “In essence, it is the combination of all these trends and how easily they adapt to different situations, even within a single campaign from fundraising to moving money to the final beneficiary, that makes it particular challenging to address them effectively. The threat is by far no longer linear, but rather multidimensional,” said Svetlana Martynova, Senior Legal Officer and Coordinator on Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) at CTED.
The Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team pursuant to resolutions 1526 (2004) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities also highlighted that since Da’esh territorial losses in 2019, the FTF threat landscape and its financing has evolved, with multiple trends demonstrating Da’esh adaptability to new conditions, including the decentralization of their operations and the growing sophistication of financing methods.
Most participants highlighted clear geographical shifts in travel routes, recruitment pools and conflict zones, which necessarily trigger shifts in related financial flows. In this context, the role of regional financial hubs, notably in Africa and Asia, has expanded.
While some methods to raise and move funds for FTF activity remain similar to what they were 10 years ago, there have been some prominent adjustments that essentially capitalize on the advantages of each method – be it speed, cross-border coverage or potential to obscure the financial traces – and adapt to various contexts in which they are used, often as a combination of several modes. The technological advances are part of this adaptation, but they have not replaced the more “traditional” methods, such as formal or informal money value transfer services or the physical transportation of cash.
The use of virtual assets both for fundraising and funds transferring purposes has been on increase in several regions, although not the prevalent method used by FTFs. “In recent years, EAG [the Eurasian Group on Combatting Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism] has conducted two typology reports (in 2017 and 2023) to develop the unified financial profile of a foreign terrorist fighter in the EAG region. A key shift in the methods of financing terrorism in the EAG region, including foreign terrorist fighters, that we have recently identified is the use of modern payment methods, particularly virtual assets,” said Mikhail Kolinchenko, Counsellor, Secretariat of EAG.
Another dimension covers the shift in expenditures and the mere purpose of funding, which now varies from travel costs to establishing new networks, to bribing and smuggling, to return and reintegration expenses, to sending money by returnees to those left behind, and multiple online fundraising campaigns that use all sorts of disguised calls for donations.
Reflecting on the demographic shifts, discussants acknowledged that women were increasingly involved as logistical and financial facilitators of FTF activity. Many national risk assessments tend to overlook this dimension, often leading to gender-blind CFT response measures.
Along these trends, there is a growing convergence with criminal networks, including human traffickers and drugs or arms dealers.
There are also challenges for impartial humanitarian action in armed conflicts where FTFs are involved, where CFT measures may result in negative unintended consequences on the provision of vital humanitarian aid.
Among the successful practices that States have taken to respond to these evolving threats, participants mentioned aligning their counterterrorism strategies with anti-money laundering and CFT policies; addressing gaps in the criminalization and prosecution of terrorism financing (TF) to include FTF activity; awareness raising among population on what constitutes TF activity; support and guidance for reporting entities to increase their level of diligence in detecting TF; using national designations and asset freezing mechanisms in relation to FTFs; comprehensively examining options for dealing with FTF returnees; and platforms for enhanced interagency and multistakeholder collaboration, including public-private partnerships.
“Task Force Charlie has ensured that we have nine domestic designations and we have also successfully proposed two names to the UNSC 1267 List”, said Vyana Sharma, Director of the Anti-Terrorism Unit Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs, Trinidad & Tobago, referring to the framework for freezing FTF-related funds.
“In a transforming landscape of financing for Foreign Terrorist Fighters, we face pressing challenges due to the rise of female facilitators, returning fighters, advances in technology, and the misuse of non-profit organisations. To effectively combat the complexities of terrorism financing, we must adapt our strategies, enhance inter-agency collaboration, and ensure that our responses empower rather than marginalise”, said Sylvia Deutsch, Deputy Director, Mutual Evaluations Coordination and Support, Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering.
"Illicit actors, such as terrorist financiers, are always going to be early adopters of new technology. But, we are also seeing law enforcement and national security agencies leverage blockchain technology to track, trace and disrupt terrorist organizations that raise and send funds using cryptocurrencies. We must all work together - public-private partnerships - to stop terrorist financiers from raising and deploying funds. Following the money can stop a terrorist attack," said Ari Redbord, Vice-President, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRM Labs.
CTED has reaffirmed its commitment to fostering a sustainable, inclusive, and innovative approach to understanding the evolving threat of FTF financing. The findings highlighted in the Trends Tracker and during the virtual launch event complement its ongoing work on TF risks and trends, including in partnership with the Financial Action Task Force.
The agenda is available here.
The Chief of Branch’s opening remarks are available here.
The recording of the event is available .
A brief overview of the report is available here; and you can download the full report here.