Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson to Travel to the Middle East

WASHINGTON – Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Doha, Qatar from October 23-26, 2023 to further U.S. efforts to deny Hamas and other terrorist organizations the ability to raise and move funds for their violent acts. He will also discuss the facilitation of legitimate humanitarian aid, as President Biden has stressed the urgency of getting life-saving aid on an ongoing basis to the people of Gaza.

In Saudi Arabia, Under Secretary Nelson will co-chair a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), a multilateral body created to strengthen cooperation among seven countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United States – to disrupt terrorist financing networks. The TFTC achieves this objective by identifying, tracking, and sharing information about terrorist financing networks and related activities of mutual concern; and coordinating joint disruptive actions including sanctions designations and spurring law enforcement action. The TFTC also offers capacity-building assistance to member states to improve their ability to counter the financing of terrorism and related risks. 

While in Riyadh, Under Secretary Nelson will also meet with key Saudi national security officials.

In Doha, Under Secretary Nelson will meet with senior Qatari officials to discuss countering terrorist financing. 

This week, Treasury sanctioned ten key Hamas terrorist group members, operatives, and financial facilitators in Gaza and elsewhere in the region; issued a FinCEN alert to assist financial institutions in identifying funding streams supporting the terrorist organization Hamas; sanctioned actors supporting Iran’s missile and UAV programs; and proposed new regulation to enhance transparency in convertible virtual currency and combat terrorist financing. Treasury has also been in close contact with partners and allies at all levels to discuss efforts on countering terrorist financing.

Additional Treasury resources on countering the financing of terrorism:

• Remarks by Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson at Deloitte’s 15th Annual Anti-Money Laundering Conference
• 2022 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment 
• National Strategy for Combatting Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing 
• Action Plan to Address Illicit Financing Risks of Digital Assets 
• FATF Report: Virtual Assets Red Flag Indicators of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
• Treasury Targets Covert Hamas Investment Network and Finance Official

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