ABSTRACT
Money laundering has traditionally been considered to be a process by which criminals attempt to hide the origins and ownership of the proceeds of their criminal activities. Money laundering is therefore as much about disguising the ownership of property as it is about converting or washing criminal property. Terrorist financing is considered by many to be just part of money laundering. The International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1999 defines the primary objective of terrorism as ‘to intimidate a population, or to compel a government or an international organisation to do or abstain from doing any act’. Terrorist organisations require finance for all aspects of their aims including training, materials and travel, so it is vital to them that they have an international flow of funds which they can use for their aims.
