FEDERALhearing transcript

Hearing on Financing Small-Scale Terrorist Attacks

Original title: LOW COST, HIGH IMPACT: COMBATING THE FINANCING OF LONE WOLF AND SMALL SCALE TERRORIST ATTACKS

January 1, 2018

terrorism financial regulation national security illicit finance lone-wolf terrorism

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The Frame

What this does

This hearing informs potential future legislation regarding how financial institutions monitor and report small-dollar transactions that could be used to fund individual acts of terrorism.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Financial Institutions

These entities are responsible for monitoring and reporting suspicious financial activity that may be linked to illicit funding.

Law Enforcement Agencies

These agencies rely on financial intelligence to identify and prevent potential terrorist threats.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2018.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Subcommittee on Terrorism and held a hearing to examine the funding mechanisms behind and small-scale terrorist attacks. The committee reviewed data on the rise of these incidents and discussed strategies for law enforcement and financial institutions to detect and disrupt low-cost funding methods.

Key Facts

The hearing took place on September 6, 2017, in the Rayburn House Office Building.
Lone-wolf terrorist attacks have grown by nearly 50 percent in the United States since the 1970s.
Lone-wolf terrorist attacks have grown by over 400 percent in other Western countries since the 1970s.
Law enforcement officials have indicated a higher likelihood of lone-wolf attacks compared to large-scale terrorist attacks.
The hearing focused on the specific financial mechanisms used to fund low-cost, small-scale attacks.

Why It Matters

This hearing informs potential future legislation regarding how financial institutions monitor and report small-dollar transactions that could be used to fund individual acts of terrorism.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 'lone-wolf' terrorist attack?

The document refers to these as small-scale acts of terrorism carried out by individuals rather than large organizations.

Why is the committee looking at small-scale attack financing?

The committee is concerned that while individual attacks are low-cost, their frequency is increasing significantly in the U.S. and abroad.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Shift in Counterterrorism Focus

The committee explicitly shifted focus from large-scale, high-cost terrorist plots to the rising trend of low-cost, individual-led attacks.

Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance

Connected Entities

personSeamus Hughes“Witness, Deputy Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington Univer”Map →

personJoseph V. Moreno“Witness, Partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.”Map →

personFrederick Reynolds“Witness, Global Head of Financial Crime Legal at Barclays.”Map →

organizationSubcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance“The congressional body conducting the hearing.”Map →

personStevan Pearce“Chairman of the subcommittee.”Map →

personMatthew Levitt“Witness, Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy20
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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