New Delhi:The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had alerted investigating agencies about at least 10 cases of suspected terror financing that had found its way to the stock market in the last three years.
In response to a Parliament question, minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena said on Friday that 10 cases of “suspicious transactions linked to terrorist financing were received from intermediaries of stock market such as brokers, asset management companies etc since 2009-10 and disseminated to intelligence agencies by FIU”.
The last case referred by FIU to investigating agencies was a few months ago, around the time of the Delhi High Court bomb blast, while at least four cases were reported last year and five in 2009-10. The facts are startling as stringent know-your-customer norms have been adopted by financial institutions under strict monitoring of the Securities and Exchange Board of India to keep away dirty money from the bourses.
“Several steps have been taken to prevent black money or terrorist funds flowing into the stock markets,” Meena said. Payments for transactions in stock markets have to be made through banking channels while financial intermediaries and banks are also required to ensure compliance with customer due diligence norms as required under PMLA, the minister added.
Since 2007, FIU has received information on hundreds of suspicious transactions, many of them related to terror financing. In a large number of suspicious transactions, bank accounts were identified as having a common beneficiary with huge and unexplained money transfers made.
Tasked primarily to keep an eye on money laundering and combating terrorist financing, FIU has often alerted authorities to keep watch on foreign remittances, particularly those which have little information on the source of funds or disclosure on actual beneficiaries. Some of the account holders of suspicious transactions have even been found to be on the Interpol’s watch list and are known criminals.
In response to a Parliament question, minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena said on Friday that 10 cases of “suspicious transactions linked to terrorist financing were received from intermediaries of stock market such as brokers, asset management companies etc since 2009-10 and disseminated to intelligence agencies by FIU”.
The last case referred by FIU to investigating agencies was a few months ago, around the time of the Delhi High Court bomb blast, while at least four cases were reported last year and five in 2009-10. The facts are startling as stringent know-your-customer norms have been adopted by financial institutions under strict monitoring of the Securities and Exchange Board of India to keep away dirty money from the bourses.
“Several steps have been taken to prevent black money or terrorist funds flowing into the stock markets,” Meena said. Payments for transactions in stock markets have to be made through banking channels while financial intermediaries and banks are also required to ensure compliance with customer due diligence norms as required under PMLA, the minister added.
Since 2007, FIU has received information on hundreds of suspicious transactions, many of them related to terror financing. In a large number of suspicious transactions, bank accounts were identified as having a common beneficiary with huge and unexplained money transfers made.
Tasked primarily to keep an eye on money laundering and combating terrorist financing, FIU has often alerted authorities to keep watch on foreign remittances, particularly those which have little information on the source of funds or disclosure on actual beneficiaries. Some of the account holders of suspicious transactions have even been found to be on the Interpol’s watch list and are known criminals.
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