New Technologies, New Risks? Innovation and Countering the Financing of Terrorism
Recent developments in the way financial services are delivered have provided both opportunities for economic development and prompted fears of their attractiveness for crimes such as terrorist financing. This paper explores four innovations, value...
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Format: | Publication |
Language: | English |
Published: |
World Bank
2012
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Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20100105024650 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2400 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/5918 |
Summary: | Recent developments in the way financial
services are delivered have provided both opportunities for
economic development and prompted fears of their
attractiveness for crimes such as terrorist financing. This
paper explores four innovations, value cards, mobile
financial services, online banking and payments, and digital
currencies, outlining how they work, analyzing their risks,
and identifying some ways in which governments and providers
are attempting to reduce their attractiveness to financiers
of terrorism. Determining what the actual risks are is
critical to ensuring that laws and regulations balance both
the need to protect integrity in the market and to create an
environment friendly to business and empowering to the poor.
The paper concludes that these new methods of payment do not
offer particular usefulness to terrorist financiers.
However, some of these channels could be attractive for
general criminal abuse because they have an ambiguous place
in the legal regime. Providers therefore, may not know about
or elect to properly mitigate risks. The industry is
encouraged to work within itself to share information to
prevent and detect criminal activity. Governments should
consult with industry in deciding regulation and industry
should notify government prior to rolling out a new service.
This will make government oversight more effective. Lastly,
since many of these services are international in scope,
government coordination and awareness rising is central. |
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