Digital Money & Terror Funding ?
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy mentioned e-gold and Cash-U (the largest internet payment solution in the Middle East) today in a PolicyWatch #1207: Special Forum Report. Its a very brief mention, just one line, but the appearance of your company name in the same article discussing the prevention of terror financing, that can’t be a good thing for business…can it? I’m not sure either way.
The article labels e-gold and Cash-U as “Technological challenges” and then states that these “challenges can be addressed through technological fixes and regulation“. I’m not quite sure what the tech fixes are and I’m not going to ask but we are pretty clear about the coming US regulations for digital money and the one which already passed last year. Thanks Senator Frist :-)
I’ve taken just a few paragraphs from the article and pasted them below so readers can get an idea about the focus of this group, you should read the entire article if you have the time. The article was prepared by Jake Lipton.
On February 23, 2007, Matthew Levitt and Todd Hinnen addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum. Dr. Levitt recently rejoined the Institute as a senior fellow and director of the Michael Stein Program on Terrorism, Intelligence, and Policy. From November 2005 to January 2007, he served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department. Mr. Hinnen, a former director in the National Security Council’s Counterterrorism Directorate, is currently counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The following parts of a summary from Dr. Levitt’s remarks; Mr. Hinnen’s remarks were off the record.
Follow the Money: Challenges and Opportunities in the Campaign to Combat Terrorism Financing
Featuring Matthew Levitt
March 6, 2007
Tags: 1MDC, DGC, Digital Gold Currency, digital-currency, Digital-Gold, digital-money, e-bullion, e-gold, ecommerce, GoldMoney, NETeller, wmtransferChallenges
Technological challenges to countering such financing abound, such as the development of internet-based money services businesses like Cash-U and E-Gold. Fortunately, these challenges can be addressed through technological fixes and regulation.
Indeed, following the money often leads authorities to conduits between terrorist organizations and individual cells. The 2003 capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin (a.k.a. “Hambali”), operational commander of the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, is but one example of such success.
The prospect of increased engagement and cooperation with the private sector presents the most intriguing and potentially rewarding opportunity in efforts to combat terrorism financing. Worldwide financial institutions’ voluntary use of the designated entities list published by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is instructive. Such institutions engage in due diligence and risk assessment out of their own self-interest in balancing profit and risk. The ability to leverage this interest is a powerful tool. Do major international banks really want to provide import-export lines of credit to Iran, which lacks controls on money laundering and terrorism financing? Some may, some may not — but they will not dismiss the question out of hand.
With more activities out of the public eye than in, counterterrorism efforts are, by their very nature, difficult to judge and easy to criticize. But financial measures in particular have proven quite successful, and those who follow the money are increasingly being called on to use their skills and tools against the hardest targets.
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POSTED IN: Emerging $ Tech, e-gold
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