Advanced Tools for Investigating Illicit Financial Networks and Prosecuting Terrorist Financing Cases.
From 1-3 July 2025, the IIJ held its third regional workshop in collaboration with Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), as part of a series of regional workshops under the Canada Global Affairs-funded project focused on building capacity and improving cooperation mechanisms to counter the financing of terrorism (CFT) in Southeast Asia. These workshops are designed to address issues identified as key for Southeast Asian region, with a focus on improving CFT-related institutional frameworks, regulations, and procedures.
First two regional workshops, focusing respectively on the protection of non-profit organisations and countering the abuse of new payment methods for terrorist financing purposes, took place earlier in the course of the project.
For this third workshop, financial intelligence units (FIUs), prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam were invited to share their experiences in analysing suspicious transactions, collecting and processing financial data, tracing financial flows, and identifying, freezing, and recovering illicit assets in terrorist financing context. The workshop also aimed to enhance collaboration and information sharing among key CFT stakeholders in Southeast Asia to strengthen the regional response to terrorist financing threats.
Key aspects of the “follow the money” approach were covered, supporting participating authorities in improving their mechanisms for investigation and prosecution of terrorist financing cases, as well as ensuring human rights compliance in the design and implementation of CFT policies and procedures. Additionally, the workshop addressed the need to implement relevant international standards, including UNSC Resolution 2462 (2019), which calls on Member States to conduct financial investigations in terrorism-related cases and to explore ways to overcome challenges in obtaining evidence to secure terrorist financing convictions, along with the relevant FATF Recommendations.
The workshop opened with remarks from IIJ Executive Secretary (ES) Steven Hill, Mr Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy for International Cooperation of the National Counter Terrorism Agency of the Republic of Indonesia (BNPT), and Commander Danny Caruana, Executive Director of JCLEC. ES Hill underscored the importance of fostering regional collaboration and knowledge exchange in CFT, as well as streamlining human rights compliance in the design and implementation of policies and procedures. The IIJ is grateful to the Government of Canada for its longstanding support and to JCLEC for its support with this significant workshop in Semarang.