Non-binding guiding principles on preventing, detecting and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes released in official UN languages

BMUSONI — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:36:00 +0000

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On 6 January 2025, the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee adopted the “Non-binding guiding principles on preventing, detecting and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes,” to be known and referred to as the “Algeria Guiding Principles.” The “Algeria Guiding Principles” were prepared with the support of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) in accordance with the “Delhi Declaration” on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes in a manner consistent with international law.

As recognized by the Security Council in its resolution 2462 (2019), innovations in financial technologies may offer significant economic opportunities, but may also present a risk of being misused, including for terrorist purposes. The growing scale of such misuse has been highlighted in several reports of the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional bodies, as well as by members of CTED’s Global Research Network and private sector partners. The scale and types of abuses vary considerably depending on regional and economic context, available means, and the targets set by terrorists in terms of their financing sources and methods.

Although cash and hawala-type systems remain the prevalent methods used to move money for terrorist purposes; there is an increase in their use in combination with new technologies and payment methods. Mobile payment systems, virtual assets, online exchanges and wallets, and crowdfunding platforms are among those technologies that have been abused for terrorist purposes, and such misuse is expected to become even more pervasive and significant as these technologies become more accessible, popular, and mainstream.

The “Algeria Guiding Principles” highlight the importance of a comprehensive and risk-based approach to countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) to mitigate a plethora of terrorist financing vulnerabilities.

��ҹ��d in four pillars, the “Algeria Guiding Principles” aim to support Member States in their efforts to (i) enhance evidence-based understanding of the terrorism-financing risks associated with new and emerging financial technologies and fundraising methods; (ii) develop and implement risk-based proportionate regulation, monitoring and supervision to prevent the abuse of new technologies for terrorism-financing purposes; (iii) effectively detect and disrupt such abuses; and (iv) evaluate the effectiveness and any unintended consequences of the measures set up to counter the financing of terrorism related to new technologies.

The “Algeria Guiding Principles” also highlight how new and emerging financial and regulatory technologies can be used to contribute to the effective implementation of anti-money laundering (AML)/CFT measures, in compliance with international law. As highlighted by the work of the FATF, new technologies also have the potential to make AML/CFT measures in both the public and private sectors faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive, while maintaining their safety and security. When used responsibly and proportionally, technology can facilitate data collection, processing and analysis and help actors to identify and manage terrorist financing risks more effectively and closer to real time.

To facilitate the development of these non-binding guiding principles, CTED undertook a comprehensive consultative process with relevant experts from United Nations agencies and international and regional organization partners, as well as a range of relevant stakeholders from the private sector, academia, and civil society.

The purpose and focus of these non-binding guiding principles is to assist Member States in enhancing relevant national CFT measures and strengthening international cooperation. The non-binding guiding principles do not purport to impose any legal obligations upon States.

The non-binding guiding principles developed pursuant to the “Delhi Declaration”, including the “Algeria Guiding Principles” and the “Abu-Dhabi Guiding Principles” related to threats posed by the use of unmanned aircraft systems for terrorist purposes, are intended to complement other materials in order to guide Member States and the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee and CTED to support States in their implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), 2370 (2017), 2396 (2017), 2462 (2019), 2617 (2021) and other relevant Council documents on counter-terrorism.

The “Algeria Guiding Principles” are available here:

Algeria Guiding Principles [AR]
Algeria Guiding Principles [CH]
Algeria Guiding Principles [EN]
Algeria Guiding Principles [ES]
Algeria Guiding Principles [FR]
Algeria Guiding Principles [RU]

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Algeria announces the non-binding guiding principles for Member States on preventing, detecting and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes

BMUSONI — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 19:53:00 +0000

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At the Security Council meeting on strengthening African leadership and implementation of counter-terrorism initiatives on 21 January 2025, the Minister of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs of Algeria, Mr. Ahmed Attaf, referred to the newly adopted non-binding guiding principles for Member States on preventing, detecting, and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes (Algeria Guiding Principles). UN Photo/Manuel Elías

On Tuesday, 21 January 2025, the Security Council held an open debate on “African-led and development-focused counter-terrorism: strengthening African leadership and implementation of counter-terrorism initiatives” under the agenda item “Maintenance of international peace and security” (S/2025/23) at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

During his opening remarks, the Minister of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs of Algeria, Mr. Ahmed Attaf, referred to the newly adopted non-binding guiding principles for Member States on preventing, detecting, and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes (Algeria Guiding Principles). “We talk third and last about terrorist groups that have developed a sophisticated modus operandi to finance their activities, relying not only on traditional means like organized crime, illegal migration, human trafficking and kidnapping for ransom but also on new technologies and financial innovations, which render their business networks more complex and harder to detect. In this regard, the Algeria Guiding Principles, adopted recently by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee, are meant exactly to shed the necessary light, and focus on this issue”, Mr. Ahmed Attaf said.

As recognized by the Security Council, innovations in financial technologies may offer significant economic opportunities. They may also present a risk of being misused, including for terrorist purposes. The growing scale of the misuse has since been highlighted in several reports of the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF-style regional bodies, as well as by members of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate’s (CTED) Global Research Network and private sector partners.

The Algeria Guiding Principles aim to support Member States in their efforts to enhance the understanding of the terrorism-financing risks associated with new and emerging financial technologies and fundraising methods; develop and implement risk-based proportionate regulation, enhance monitoring and supervision to prevent the abuse of new technologies for terrorism-financing purposes; effectively detect and disrupt such abuses; and evaluate the impact and any unintended consequences of new measures to counter the financing of terrorism related to new technologies. They will be available as a Security Council document in the six official United Nations languages soon.

You can watch the Security Council open debate here.

Front Page Article:

Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) - Algeria Guiding Principles

Non-binding guiding principles on preventing, detecting and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes released in official UN languages

istock-1335295270.jpg

Algeria announces the non-binding guiding principles for Member States on preventing, detecting and disrupting the use of new and emerging financial technologies for terrorist purposes

un71083442_me20408_.jpg