Introduction

• Pages: 1-3

Contenidos

• Context.
• Outline.

Page 1

IMF member countries and other jurisdictions wishing to bring their legislation up to the norms and standards established by the international community in the area of combating the financing of terrorism face a number of choices. The sources of these norms and standards range from legally binding international norms, such as those contained in resolutions of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, and in international conventions, such as the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, to nonbinding standards established by groups of countries acting in concert, such as the Eight Special Recommendations on Terrorism Financing of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). While there is considerable overlap among these sources, their scope varies. Implementation of some of the norms and standards requires legislation, but on many points, implementation can be effected in a number of different ways. As a result, in responding to their international obligations and meeting the standards, countries must make a number of choices as to the scope of the legislation and its contents.

The objective of this handbook is to assist IMF member countries and other jurisdictions in preparing legislation to implement the international obligations and to meet the international standards related to combating the financing of terrorism in a manner most appropriate to their circumstances.

Context

The international community's efforts to prevent and punish the financing of terrorism are part of a larger effort to combat all aspects of terrorism. These efforts have been deployed at the global and at the regional levels. At the global level, the United Nations has been involved in the issue since 1970.¹ In 1972, the General Assembly established the first Ad Hoc Committee on International Terrorism,² and in 1994, it adopted a Declaration Page 2 on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism.³ In 1996, the General Assembly established a new ad hoc committee to elaborate international conventions on terrorism. It is in this ad hoc committee that the Convention on the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism was elaborated. Since 2000, the ad hoc committee has begun work on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.⁴

Since 1985, the Security Council has also been concerned with the issue of terrorism, and in 2001, it established its Counter-Terrorism Committee, which is charged with...