| Subject: | Approval of the draft Concept Note of the IEWG ERWTF project |
|---|---|
| Date: | Wed, 05 Aug 2020 07:28:42 -0400 |
| From: | Nedko Krumov <nedko.krumov@egmont.org> |
| To: |
**Letter to all IEWG members**
Dear IEWG members,
We trust you are well!
Following the IEWG virtual meeting on July 6th we would like to draw your attention to the project idea of extreme right-wing terrorism financing (ERWTF).
According to a note published in April 2020 by the United National Counter-terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), research shows that there has been a 320 % rise in attacks conducted by individuals affiliated with extreme right-wing movements and ideologies over the past five years. This threat is increasing all over the world, in particular in the Developed Economies. Considering the fact that extreme right-wing terrorist attacks are most likely to be perpetrated by right-wing extremists, the fact that violent extremist right-wing movements are rising in many regions, in particular in the US and in Europe, is an indication that this type of terrorist threat is not likely to diminish in the following years.
In that context, FIUs may have access to key information in relation to the (few at this stage) indicators of extreme right-wing terrorism identified. Moreover, the fact that this threat is increasingly becoming transnational justifies an increased involvement from the FIU community. Indeed, FIUs can rely on very efficient tools to cooperate operationally, both domestically and internationally, and if possible through financial intelligence identify new links, patterns and methods related to this kind of terrorist activities.
Therefore, based on the presentation received during the virtual meeting in July, the IEWG decided to include the topic of ERWTF in its new Business Plan 2020-2021.
Subsequently, a project team of FIUs, co-led by TRACFIN (France) and FIU-the Netherlands, started working in order to draft a Concept Note and scope a meaningful project. We would like to present this draft Concept Note to your attention for comments and out-of-session approval (please see attached).
You are kindly asked to provide with your feedback and approval (to the EGS: nedko.krumov@egmont.org and andrey.frolov@egmont.org) by Friday, August 28th. As usual, no feedback received within the deadline will be considered as tacit approval of the draft Concept Note.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Kind regards,
Egmont Group Secretariat