FATF President Speech at No Money for Terror conference, Munich

Munich, 13 February 2025 -

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Thank you, and good morning to all of you, 

I thank Germany and Minister Kukies for hosting us today. 

This year will mark 10 years since the deadly terror attacks in Paris which gave world leaders cause to start this conference. Yet sadly, the threats, have not gone away – and in fact their reach has widened.

The latest Global Terrorism Index from the Institute for Economics & Peace, shows that deaths from terrorism increased by 22% in 2023. 

Eight thousand three hundred and fifty-two people around the world lost their lives that year from callous, brutal attacks, putting the terrorism death toll at its highest level since 2017.

And the effects for survivors, and societies, are lasting.

Families torn apart. Children psychologically wounded. Societies struggling to rebuild.

We owe it to all of these people, to our families, to future generations, to get smarter, and more strategic, about how we stop terrorists in their tracks. 

That is why countries must urgently step up their use of financial intelligence.

By turning off the money tap, we can cut off the blood supply of terrorism.

Three terror plots were dismantled during the Paris Olympic Games, after France's Financial Intelligence Unit shared information with domestic and international partners which helped identify suspects. 

We will never know how many lives were potentially saved as a result of these interventions, but one life taken by terrorists is one too many.

These cases highlight the critical role of countering the financing of terrorism to global security. 

Terrorists need money – even small amounts – to prepare their attacks. And they do not announce their plans. They thrive on secrecy and obscurity, emerging only when it is too late and when they have caused maximum shock, harm and loss of life. 

So financial trails can at times be the only leads we have to detect and disrupt their movements.

But not only that, when attacks do happen, forensic financial intelligence is a crucial tool to trace the terrorists behind them as well as the networks that support and enable them.

Over the past decade the FATF has helped over 200 jurisdictions within our Global Network to build and refine their financial intelligence – making this one of the most powerful instruments for dismantling terrorist financing networks.

FATF Standards provide the framework for countries to access and exchange financial intelligence across jurisdictions to dismantle the complex financial networks that sustain terrorist organizations.

Providing the framework is not enough, which is why the FATF has been working for 10 years to help countries stay ahead of terrorist financing risk – for example relating to abuse of social media, crowd funding, and virtual assets.  

We also assess the effectiveness of measures countries have put in place. That is how, through our mutual evaluations, we have identified gaps that need to be addressed.

The FATF is actively working to support countries to increase their investigative and prosecuting abilities, after identifying that less than a third of countries are investigating and prosecuting terror financing adequately.

To improve this picture, this year the FATF will be releasing a comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing, compiling cases provided by our Global Network of more than 200 jurisdictions.

This will equip countries to better avert terrorist attacks, and ensure the safety of their people. 

As the cases I have mentioned this morning show, this can only work if countries work together to make the international financial system a defensive shield against terrorists.

Jurisdictions also need to work hand in hand with the private sector and civil society, to ensure effectiveness of their counter-terrorist financing efforts.

Whether it’s banks, payment platforms, virtual asset service providers, we must make better use of our first line of defence. 

So it is crucial that countries develop frameworks that allow intelligence to be shared efficiently, and leverage technology to help them do so. 

No single company, authority, or country can combat this challenge alone. We must be unified against the scourge of global terrorism.

Because terrorists need to succeed only once to achieve their goal, while we have to succeed every time to prevent it. 

Thank you.