What are Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Initiatives?

Terrorism is an ongoing threat that many governments worldwide are trying to stop. Terrorists need funding to finance their activities, and figuring out where that money comes from can help law enforcement stop and catch criminals.

Also known as "Counter financing of Terrorism," Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) is a term that describes several initiatives, policies, and regulations that aim to restrict terrorist funding.

How Do Terrorists Get Funding?

Terrorists obtain money in many ways. In some cases, it comes from legitimate means such as businesses, religious organizations, and more. Money can also come from crimes like drug trafficking and corruption. Either way, that money has to move somehow to fund terrorist activities.

Money laundering and terrorism go hand in hand. It's how terrorists disguise funding and keep the movement under the radar. Through laundering, these organizations can make money from illegal sources look clean and legitimate.

Understanding CFT Initiatives

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the driving force behind CFT policies. The task force includes 37 countries and two regional organizations. The separate entities work together to create processes that protect the international financial system from terrorist infiltration.

After the start of FATF, many countries started adopting CFT policies. As a company leader, you must know your business solutions for CFT and understand how they fit into the bigger picture.

How Financial Institutes Fit In

On a national level, CFT practices are akin to anti-money laundering policies. It's about verifying customer identities and complying with established rules. Financial institutes are at the front lines of CFT. You must know your business solutions and do your due diligence to verify the identity of every customer.

Through KYC regulations and money-laundering prevention techniques, you can report suspicious activity and put an end to a reliable source of funding for terrorist activity.

Terrorists rely on banks to "clean" their money and disguise crucial lifelines that keep terrorism alive. By doing your part to unveil financial sources, you can help to make the world a much safer place.

Read a similar article about “what is know your customer verification?” here at this page.

What Does a Compliance Officer Do?

If you run a business or are an employee, you probably already know that it takes a team to make things run smoothly around any organization. No single person can take on every task and do it well. Likewise, every organization needs someone who ensures that the company continually adheres to local and national rules and regulations, depending on the industry. This individual should also make sure all employees follow internal regulations as well. This will ensure that the business runs smoothly and prevents any intentional or unintentional illegal activities.

What is a compliance officer?

A compliance officer is an employee of a company that identifies and manages regulatory risk by ensuring that the organization complies with outside regulatory and legal requirements, as well as internal rules created by the company’s head leadership.

What does a compliance officer do?

Compliance officers have many different duties that help ensure regulatory compliance among employees of a company. For example, they may:

• Design or update internal policies to mitigate risk
• Monitors all procedures and processes with an organized system, such as an anti money laundering compliance checklist
• Conduct compliance risk assessments
• Researching, recording, and analyzing data and information
• Organize regular training sessions to keep employees up to speed on key regulatory changes and updates
• Set guidelines on how to respond to a compliance breach
• Use appropriate disciplinary measures to prevent future breaches
• Continually conducts assessments to determine whether company policies are compliant with the law

Depending on the company’s industry, a compliance officer may complete the tasks above (among others) to make sure all legal regulations and ethical standards are followed. For example, a compliance officer at a private bank might follow an anti money laundering compliance checklist to protect the bank from experiencing legal issues and reputational damage due to a lack of compliance.

Benefits of having a compliance officer

An impartial compliance officer will make sure that your business runs smoothly and adheres to any applicable laws or regulations to avoid garnering unwanted attention from the local or federal government. For example, a compliance officer will use tools like an anti money laundering compliance checklist to ensure that your organization does not conduct business with any individuals who are committing financial crimes like money laundering or terrorism financing.

A compliance officer can also help your organization develop processes to avoid compliance risks and make sure employees have a safe and confidential way to report unethical activities within the workplace.

Read a similar article about anti money laundering screening here at this page.