News

The Executive Office for Control and Non-Proliferation (EOCN) held a workshop on terrorist financial investigations and intelligence information gathering for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting in cases of terrorist financing. The event was organized in collaboration with the UN Office for Counter-Terrorism and with the participation of a selected group of international experts. The event aims at enhancing the level of awareness and capacity-building of all regulatory bodies and law enforcement authorities, in order to curb attempts by terrorist groups and organizations to exploit DNFBs or non-profit organizations in supporting the financing of terrorist activities or acts.

H.E. Talal Al-Teneiji, EOCN Director, said in a speech opening the workshop:

"The best practices to combat financial crimes, especially terrorist financing crimes, require legal and operational frameworks that allow the exchange and sharing of financial intelligence information between all national entities. This is in order to make it easier for investigators to trace funds and assets belonging to terrorist groups, and to take the necessary measures to prevent the use of those funds in any terrorist act or for the sake of supporting such acts. It has become evident that the detection of terrorist financing operations is considered as a challenge for countries, because of the specificity of such crimes that enable perpetrators to transfer and move small amounts of money that are difficult to trace or know their purpose. However, thanks to the capabilities and professionalism of law enforcement agencies in the UAE for taking pioneering steps towards deterring and suppressing the financing of terrorism by conducting a study to assess the risks of terrorist financing. In that study threats and vulnerabilities that can be exploited by terrorist financiers have been analyzed.  The UAE has developed policies, strategic plans and proactive measures to reduce those risks."

"This workshop is part of a series of programs being prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Combating the Financing of Terrorism, in which we look forward as mentioned earlier to learn about the best practices and methods used in carrying out financial investigation effectively, in addition to exchanging experiences in the adopted methods used to identify the sources of information that investigators resort to in order to identify the sources of fund-raising and its use in the financing of terrorism, through comprehensive practical cases prepared by specialized experts.", Al-Teneiji added.

The three-day workshop; which was attended by a selected group of international experts specialized in combating the financing of terrorism and its methods of investigation, and participation from federal and local regulatory bodies; has focused on the importance of international cooperation to combat crimes and coordinate efforts at the level of financial information units with counterparts or through official bodies through mutual legal assistance. This is as financial crimes and terrorist financing crimes are considered cross-border crimes, and concerted international efforts are needed to prevent the exploitation of international actors and the global financial system to pass on suspicious financial transactions.