Pot to kettle: Brits judge Indian CFT

Last month the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an organization originally established by the old G-7 to review certain countries for their compliance with modern anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) standards, paid a visit to India.

The FATF is most famous for its “blacklist” (or Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories [NCCT]) list of nations with poor AML-CFT controls.  However, the FATF does not evaluate all the countries in the world.  It only evaluates countries that its benefactor nations of the G20 request it to investigate.

Approval from FATF is a green light for international investment.  Being blacklisted is a powerful incentive for the country to reform its anti-terror finance practices.

Currently no countries are on FATF’s blacklist.  All the ones that were have since reformed their policies and been removed.  Membership in FATF is the equivalent of a stamp of approval of that country’s financial safeguards.

FATF says it will rule on India’s application for membership in June.  India just got a slight boost from Japan whose prime minister endorsed Indian FATF membership.

What caught my attention is the FATF committee that will evaluate India’s application.  FATF’s British representatives will be one of the nations examining India’s regulatory framework.  That’s fine and dandy, since London is one of the world’s biggest banking hubs.

But it’s just slightly ironic that the FATF visit took place amidst rampant media speculation over how the 26/11 Mumbai attacks were funded, when, as Money Jihad reader Puneet Madaan pointed out in a helpful comment here, British pounds funneled through U.K. mosques may have helped fund 26/11 and Lashkar-e-Taiba in the first place.

But the U.K. connection to terrorism against India is deeper than just 26/11.  Muslim charities in Britain apparently sent money to terrorists in 2006 under the guise of earthquake relief.  The U.S. Copts Association says that, “British Muslims have become a mainstay of the global jihad” along with the money from Britain that is funding jihad.  And in a eye-popping crazy-if-true post yesterday over at “Order-Order,” a hate-preaching imam gets more in British welfare benefits than a frontline soldier.

As we in the West get on our high horses to judge India’s anti-terror policies, who will judge us?