United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373: Anti-terrorist Financing Regulation for the Financial Sector

Abstract

There has been a lot of debate within the academic field as well as among legislators over time regarding the financing of terrorism all around the world. This was especially intensified after the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the United States of America which was subsequently followed by a series of attacks by terrorists in different parts of the world. Both local and international legislators and organizations in most countries around the world are of the opinion that there is need to undertake in depth changes in both national and international policies, standards and principles on anti-terrorism especially with regards to the financing of terrorism, its aftermath and prospective measures of preventive intervention on the same. Some of the findings made in this study are inclusive of the fact that in as much as banks used to be the main players when it came to terrorist financing previously, there are other financial institutions that also play a significant role with regards to it being a platform for funding terrorism activities in today’s world. It further established the different roles played by different aspects such as customer due diligence and the principle of banking secrecy among others. This study therefore, seeks to look into the issue of the financing of terrorism and the different roles played by different actors within the financial sector alongside giving a proper description or evaluation of the outcomes of the joint attempts to curb the financing of terrorist operations that has been undertaken under the endorsement of the UN Security Council and its committees as well as individual member States.