Tue 18 - Thu 20 November 2008 - Frankfurt am Main, Exhibition Grounds, Hall 5.1
E.B.I.F. demonstrates ways to combat terrorist financing
Wiesbaden, 2 November 2006 – The European Banking & Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.), which will be held in Frankfurt from 14 to 16 November, will present a wide range of effective solutions for countering terrorist financing.
The substantially stricter legal requirements brought about by the Third EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which is to be implemented in national law by 15 December 2007, are forcing banks and insurance companies to take action. On 31 July 2006, two suitcase bombs were discovered on a regional train near Dortmund and at Koblenz train station. According to Jörg Ziercke, Head of the Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BKA), these actions were motivated by the publication of Mohammed caricatures and the death of terrorist Abu Mussab al-Sarkawi. The scandalous photos of German troops in Afghanistan posing with human skulls prompted new fears that Germany would be a target for larger scale terrorist activities. Günther Beckstein, Bavarian Minister of the Interior, told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag: “This increases the risk of German interests here and abroad being targeted by Islamic terrorists.” According to reports by the US State Department, over 10,000 terrorist attacks took place around the world in 2005. Terrorists need one thing more than anything else: money! Accordingly, terrorist networks abuse the international financial system in order to finance their activities. With the introduction of the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive, financial institutions are now being directly involved in the fight against terrorism. On 1 August 2006, the EU commission passed Directive 2006/70/EC specifying rules and regulations for implementing the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive. In particular, specific requirements are made with regard to the duty of care of financial service providers regarding the transactions of “Politically Exposed Persons” (PEPs). As early as July, the European Commission issued technical regulations for preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. At the E.B.I.F., which will be taking place in just a few days, a wide range of exhibitors will demonstrate how financial service providers can block terrorist financing.
Max-Peter Ratzel, Director of Europol and speaker at the “Conference on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing”, which takes place within the framework of Euro Finance Week, said: "The financing of the international organised crime and terrorism must be fought effectively. In order to contribute their part, banks and insurance companies must be vigilant and inform the law enforcement authorities as soon as possible, when something looks suspicious.”
Torsten Mayer, an expert in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, who is also Executive Officer of TONBELLER AG, one of the companies exhibiting at the E.B.I.F., also subscribes to this view: “Fighting against international terrorism is no longer just the responsibility of national governments, intelligence agencies or the military. Financial service providers have now been given the task of stifling the funding of terrorist organisations by means of suitable monitoring systems.” Thomas Wild, Chief Executive of Cellent Finance Solutions AG, another E.B.I.F. exhibitor, adds: “The new EU Directive now gives a precise definition of Politically Exposed Persons. Modern software will help financial institutes to recognise these and to fulfil their increased duty of care.”
Thomas Schütz, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen, which is responsible for organising the E.B.I.F. together with the Maleki Group, emphasises the relevance of this issue: “The need to combat terrorist financing has become even more acute this year and, accordingly, will be one of the central topics of the E.B.I.F. For IT companies, the E.B.I.F. is an ideal platform for presenting their tailored solutions directly to the relevant decision-makers from banks and insurance companies.”
The E.B.I.F. is Europe’s largest independent technology trade fair for the banking and insurance sector. This year the E.B.I.F. will once again be taking place within the framework of Euro Finance Week, the high-powered industry gathering of the European finance and insurance sectors in one of Europe’s most important financial centres. During the “Conference on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing”, there will be top-level discussions featuring leading experts in the field. An additional attraction for exhibitors and visitors alike is the Sparkassen Informatik IT forum 2006, which is held at the same time and in the immediate vicinity of the E.B.I.F.
9TH EURO FINANCE WEEK 13 - 17 November 2006
E.B.I.F. Trade Fair 14 - 16 November 2006
Conference on Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, 15 November 2006
Concurrent with: IT forum 2006, Sparkassen Informatik 14 - 16 November 2006
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Press contact:
Michael Diegelmann
Henryk Deter
cometis AG
Unter den Eichen 7
65195 Wiesbaden, Germany
phone +49 611 20 58 55-12/-13
fax +49 611 20 58 55-66
diegelmann@cometis.de
deter@cometis.de
