US, Turkey vow to jointly fight ISIL financing

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew shake hands during the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Istanbul Feb 10, 2015. REUTERS Photo

The United States and Turkey have agreed to conduct a joint effort to cut the funds financing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), while G-20 member states have also committed to further cooperation against terror financing.

Amid the onslaught in Iraq and Syria by well-financed ISIL jihadists, the G-20 also committed to "deepen our cooperation" in the fight against terrorism financing, according to the summit's communiqué, Agence France-Presse reported.

This would be done by exchanging information and "freezing terrorist assets," said the document.
The communiqué urged "all countries to speed-up their compliance with the relevant international standards" in this respect.

It said the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) against money laundering and similar bodies should "put a specific focus on financing of terrorism."

They should also develop guidelines to improve the transparency of payment systems, in order to lessen the risk they are used for the financing of terrorism and money laundering, it said.

The G-20 asked for a report by October 2014 on "proposals to strengthen all counter terrorism financing tools."

In line with the measures and thanks to the steps taken to fight against dirty money, Turkey was removed in November 2014 from the "grey list" of countries drawn up by the 36-member FATF, a money-laundering watchdog, Finance Minister Mehmet ?im?ek said in December 2014.

The Financial Crime Investigation Board (MASAK) signed cooperation deals with 43 countries in the fight against money laundering and is also a member of the EGMONT Group, which helps facilitate the exchange of information.

In the meeting, the U.S. and Turkey also agreed that boosting near-term domestic...

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