It is a criminal offence in the UK to finance or to facilitate the financing of terrorism.
There are powers to interdict the flow of funds to terrorism, and failure to abide by instructions issued under these powers is a criminal offence.
The key pieces of legislation for terrorist finance are:
- The Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT)
- The Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCS)
- Various orders giving effect to United Nations measures
Full details of this legislation are available at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk - follow the link to Financial Sanctions.
In addition, section 18 of TACT creates an offence of money laundering in relation to terrorist property. TACT defines “terrorist property” as “money or other property” (Section 14(1)) with “property” being defined as “property wherever situated and whether real or personal, heritable or moveable, and things in action and other intangible or incorporeal property” (Section 121)
The obligations placed on the regulated sector by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 apply to terrorist financing and TACT contains a mandatory reporting regime and consent provisions together with tipping off offences, all similar to the provisions in POCA.
The ATCS is designed to cut off terrorist funding and ensure that government departments and agencies can collect and share information required for countering the terrorist threat. The freezing powers in the Act are available wherever funds could be used to finance terrorism. There is a power to seize terrorist cash anywhere in the UK, and the power to freeze assets at the start of an investigation, rather than when the person is about to be charged, reducing the risk that funds will be used or moved before they can be frozen. ATCS allows the Treasury to freeze the assets of overseas governments or residents who have taken or are likely to take action to the detriment of the UK’s economy or action constituting a threat to the life or property of a national or resident of the UK. The Act contains information sharing gateways to ensure that public authorities can disclose information for the purposes of a criminal investigation or proceedings.