Task Force Focuses on Global Efforts Against Terror Financing

Press Release

Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Ranking Member Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) together held a hearing of the Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing this week focused the United States' role in helping developing nation's address terror financing.

The international community has sought to strengthen the financial, law enforcement, and legal systems of developing countries in order to better prevent the financing of terrorism and other illicit financial flows. The hearing examined the extent to which technical assistance is coordinated; successes and failures of the current assistance-delivery regime; and ways to improve the provision of such assistance.

"Throughout the lifetime of this Task Force, one fact has remained consistent: combatting terror finance is and must continue to be an international effort,"said Fitzpatrick. "The countries of today's world are more interconnected than ever been before; especially when focusing on the financial system and the global trade system. With this much integration, the weakest link in the system becomes the target for exploitation by criminal organizations and terrorist groups. We must identify how the international community is addressing this issue, how efficient the U.S. is when delivering technical assistance to developing nations and how coordination between U.S. agencies and international partners can be improved."

"ISIS, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups are constantly seeking new ways to fund their efforts. Weak financial institutions in the developing world are a breeding ground for corruption and a prime target for terrorist financiers,"said Lynch. "The United States must continue to expand robust and effective technical assistance to developing nations in order to investigate and prosecute terrorist financiers and prevent legitimate financial institutions from being exploited."

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