InfoBytes Blog
Counter ISIS Finance Group seeks to isolate ISIS from the international financial system
On May 26, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the release of a joint statement by the Counter ISIS Finance Group (CIFG) of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which coordinates efforts to isolate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the international financial system and eliminate revenue sources. The CIFG held its fourteenth meeting on May 17 to discuss ongoing efforts to combat ISIS financing worldwide, which coincided with sanctions against three individuals and one entity connected to ISIS for allegedly helping ISIS access the financial system in the Middle East through a network of international donors (covered by InfoBytes here).
Among other things, the statement highlighted ISIS’s “reliance on regional money services businesses (MSBs) to transfer funds internationally,” its focus on funding “the release of its detained operatives and family members, and its extortion and looting of Syrian and Iraqi populations.” CIFG members and observers also noted the significance of “information-sharing, increased oversight over financial institutions, and coordinated disruptive actions to deter ISIS financial supporters from accessing the regional financial system.” CIFG members and observers were also briefed on ISIS supporters’ abuse of the charitable sector and madrassa networks in Asia, in addition to “discussions on how ISIS branches and networks in Africa utilize informal funds transfer mechanisms and participate in looting to support their extremist affairs.” Delegates also “presented case studies on security operations against Europe-based ISIS supporters who raise and transfer funds online, in some cases via virtual currencies.” The statement concludes: “The work of the CIFG is critical to the global fight to defeat ISIS in all corners of the world and we will continue to engage global partners to deprive ISIS of its sources of revenue and prevent it from accessing the international financial system. We will continue learning from each other’s successes and challenges, and empowering partners in the most vulnerable jurisdictions to strengthen their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regimes.”