Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure harmonisation of the approaches of the UK, the US and the EU in freezing assets of people suspected of funding international terrorism.

The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton, is the Minister who holds the financial sanctions portfolio and is responsible for making decisions in relations to terrorist asset freezes.

There are three counter-terrorism sanctions regimes in operation in the UK – the UN’s Al Qaida sanctions regime, the EU regime targeted at non-Al Qaida terrorists external to the EU, and the UK unilateral power to freeze under the Terrorist Asset Freezing etc. Act 2010 (“TAFA”). The Foreign Office lead UK input to the UN and EU regimes. The Treasury relies upon advice from law enforcement and security agencies when considering proposals to freeze the assets under TAFA of those believed to be involved in terrorist activity. Those agencies are best placed to judge which tools, including asset freezes, are most appropriate to disrupt terrorist activity.

HM Treasury acts to implement asset freezes under the UN and EU regimes once regulations giving effect to these freezes are promulgated by the EU. The FCO leads HMG work on listings under these regimes. The Treasury administers the domestic asset freezing regime with advice from law enforcement and security agencies who are best placed to advise on the necessity of an asset freeze.

There is a high degree of overlap between UK and US terrorist asset freezing lists, though legislative differences mean that it will not always be possible for UK and US listings to be an exact mirror.