Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan on November 22 announced the establishment of the Southeast Asia Counter-Terrorism Financing Working Group, which will link finance intelligence units across the region to counter terrorism financing.
The group, designed to prevent the flow of funds suspected of being used to fund terrorist activities, was joined by
Speaking from
Accordingly, Australia’s counter-terrorism financing agency (AUSTRAC) will for the first time share critical intelligence with anti-terrorism units in ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to create a "firewall" in Southeast Asia against funding of IS and other terrorist groups.
It is the first such cross-country agreement of its kind, as authorities fear that even small amounts of money flowing into emerging terror hot spots could fund significant attacks, with the 2002
A regional risk assessment conducted by AUSTRAC estimated that foreign sources transferred more than one million USD in terrorism financing into
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