Beating terrorists ‘in their own game’: AMLC hosts int’l summit vs laundering

The Anti-Money Laundering Council will work closely with its foreign counterparts to better combat terror, its financing and money laundering, the head of the country’s main financial intelligence unit said.

In a press statement, AMLC chair and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said the fifth Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit that began on Tuesday in Manila brings together leaders in financial intelligence with senior representatives from regulatory, national security, law enforcement, industry and academia, from across the region and the world.

“Fighting terrorism means teamwork among local and international stakeholders,” Diokno said.

He said a review of strategies is aimed at “beating terrorists and their financiers at their own game.”

Hosted by AMLC in partnership with the summit’s co-founders, the Indonesian financial intelligence unit (PPATK) and Australia’s financial intelligence agency, (Austrac), the conference aims to identify and share counterterrorism financing strategies between countries in the region; address regional high-risk money laundering threats; provide guidance to counterparts and private sector on digital currencies and virtual assets and present outcomes for other anti-laundering strategies.

Diokno said the summit will also expand its scope beyond countering terrorist financing and will consider ways to address significant regional threats like the abuse of new financial technologies, corruption in the region as well as victim-based crimes like human and wildlife trafficking and child sex exploitation.

The AMLC chief also noted that the summit’s discourse has gone beyond its name to include money laundering and other violations as the terrain of financial crime grows.

Austrac CEO, Nicole Rose said the CTF Summit has evolved into a globally recognized example of multilateral cooperation focused on terrorist financing and serious transnational crime.

“Terrorist and organized crime groups are increasingly sophisticated international organizations and it is essential that we unite as a region to combat these threats together,” Rose said.

PPATK head Kiagus Ahmad Badaruddin highlighted the summit’s role as a forum that facilitates new ideas and firm commitments to collaboratively address money laundering and terrorist financing in the region./TSB