EU STEPS UP AML FIGHT Legislation

摘要

When a Franco-Belgian terror cell brought devastation to the heart of Europe by attacking Paris in November 2015 and Brussels in March 2016, the two countries' security agencies were caught off guard. For one, both operations were highly sophisticated and well resourced. But they were also financed in a way that evaded the attention of law enforcement. In the case of the assault on Paris, the French finance ministry's intelligence unit, Tracfin, estimated the total cost of the deadly assault at no more than €30,000. Much of this was splintered into smaller sums deployed on anonymous, prepaid cards. The financing mechanisms behind these attacks offer one example of an escalating arms race between financial regulators on the one hand and terrorist networks, criminals and money launderers on the other. And it is unfolding against a backdrop of an increasingly complex global financial system.Today, for instance, the website of a prominent Palestinian militant group invites users to provide financial support through a Bitcoin QR code. Every time a visitor reaches the page, a unique Bitcoin donation address is generated. This makes it nearly impossible for security agencies to track related payments, as each visit to the website creates a new address on the block-chain ledger underpinning it.