The recent terrorist attacks in Paris are likely to lead to a ratcheting up of global enforcement against terrorism financing and money laundering, experts say.
Alongside military action against Islamic State, which perpetrated the Paris bombings and shootings, as well as claiming responsibility for the recent downing of a Russian airliner, Western officials are trying to squeeze the organization’s finances. Enforcing laws and applying regulations against terrorism finance and money laundering are among the most direct ways of doing so.
“Compliance officers of financial institutions should expect even more intrusive laws and regulatory expectations, and even stricter scrutiny by regulators, than we’ve seen recently,” said Ross Delston, an anti-money laundering expert based in Washington, D.C.