Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18970, what measures are being taken to prevent Daesh from receiving donations from individuals or other actors.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international sanctions regime to cut off financial support for Daesh, underpinned by UN Security Council Resolutions (such as 1267, 2170 and 2199). As members of the Global Coalition’s Counter ISIL Finance Group, we are actively involved in identifying companies and individuals that breach the sanctions regime. UK law enforcement agencies have a well established and sophisticated system for investigating and shutting off sources of finance for terrorists, including Daesh, working with the finance sector to stop funds going from individuals to Daesh through the banking system. We are also working to close down Daesh’s ability to trade outside the formal financial system, cutting their access to black market trading and alternative international flows of money. The UK Government has robust processes in place, working closely with the charity sector to ensure that illegal charities do not fund Daesh and that NGO’s do not inadvertently do so, and also cooperating with the private sector to stop terrorist-related money laundering.Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what non-military steps he is taking to prevent Daesh from selling oil; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent Daesh raising capital to finance their activities by other means.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We hold regular bilateral and multilateral discussions on Daesh funding, including within the Global Coalition’s Counter ISIL Finance Group, which is co-chaired by the US, Saudi Arabia and Italy. Daesh has three main sources of funding: extortion from communities living in territory under its control; selling oil and antiquities; and donations from individuals. The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international sanctions regime to cut off financial support for Daesh and other terrorist groups. We work with allies, particularly in the region, to ensure sanctions are enforced and that measures are being taken to stop the Daesh trade in oil and hydrocarbon products. Examples of this work include training local customs officials in the region to prevent oil smuggling. We are also focused on ensuring that individuals involved in brokering oil deals between Daesh and the Assad regime have been or will be sanctioned by the EU.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken, and what action they plan to take, to put pressure on Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to cut off financing for terrorist organisations.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
We work with regional and international partners, including all Gulf States, to tackle the threat posed by terrorist organisations, including by working to counter terrorist financing. We urge all international partners to implement UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2161 (on Al Qaida sanctions), UNSCR 2199 (on countering Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) finance) and UNSCR 1373 (on threats to international peace and security), and work to further combat the financing of ISIL through the Counter-ISIL Finance Working Group (Saudi Arabia is the Chair, Kuwait and Qatar are active members).
The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) is the global standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are members of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (the regional grouping of FATF) which conducts mutual evaluations of its members to assess compliance with the international standard. A FATF report on terrorist financing published on 16 November 2015 noted that since 2010, Saudi Arabia had achieved the highest number of terrorist financing convictions out of the 33 jurisdictions who had achieved a conviction.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of an Islamic bond.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In June last year the UK became the first country outside of the Islamic world to issue sovereign Sukuk, the Islamic equivalent of bonds, cementing Britain’s position as the western hub for Islamic finance.
The £200 million of Sukuk will mature in 2019. They were sold to investors based in the UK and in the major hubs for Islamic finance around the world.
The Sukuk received very strong demand, delivering good value for the taxpayer. Orders for the Sukuk totalled around £2.3 billion.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what advice he has received from Islamic scholars on the writing off of sharia compliant student loans.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
Following a consultation in 2014 on a Sharia-compliant alternative finance product which sought to obtain views on the acceptability of an alternative finance product based upon the Takaful Model, officials in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills are working with Islamic finance experts to consider the introduction of a possible alternative finance product, including terms and conditions that would be Sharia-compliant and equivalent to other student loans. Advice has been received from Al Rayan Bank (formally Islamic Bank of Britain).
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Prime Minister's commitment to work with the US to destroy IS, what their strategy is for doing so.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK is part of a Global Coalition of over 60 countries and organisations who have come together to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Coalition agreed that we will need to make concerted efforts on five lines: Military, Foreign Fighters, Finance, Stabilisation and Strategic Communications. The UK is playing a key role to support concerted efforts on these five lines.
The UK is a leading contributor to the military efforts to defeat ISIL. We are upgrading local forces – the Iraqi Security Forces (including Kurdish fighters) and the Syrian Moderate Opposition – through the provision of training and equipment and the RAF is part of the Coalition’s air support which is helping to defeat ISIL on the ground.
We are countering ISIL’s efforts to recruit foreign fighters by identifying recruitment networks, encouraging the exchange of information on travel routes, and ensuring Coalition members are sharing information to combat the flow of these fighters.
We have been working to prevent ISIL’s use of the international financial system and cutting off sources of funding, whether from oil smuggling, kidnap for ransom, foreign donations, or the trade in looted antiquities.
The Coalition is committed to providing stabilisation support in Iraq. Essential services, civilian planning, local government and police will be needed in liberated areas to ensure relief and recovery, so that displaced people can choose to return to their homes safely. In the meantime, the UK is providing humanitarian assistance to the millions of people affected by ISIL’s brutality and chaos in Syria, Iraq and the region. The UK is one of the co-leads for the international working group on strategic communications. We are enabling credible voices across the region to speak out against ISIL’s atrocities and to encourage people not to support or promote ISIL.
We also support Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi and his efforts to lead an inclusive government and advance national reconciliation.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to discuss with the governments of (1) the United States of America, (2) France, (3) Germany, (4) Italy, (5) Australia, (6) Canada, (7) India, (8) Austria, and (9) Russia, the possible creation of an international force to tackle Islamic extremism wherever it occurs in the world, including elements of those countries' armed, intelligence and police forces.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
In addition to our efforts in the UN, EU and other multilateral fora to tackle Islamist extremism, the UK is a leading member of the Global Coalition of over 60 countries to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Global Coalition’s efforts include cutting off ISIL finance, reducing the influx of fighters, supporting governments and civil society to challenge extremist ideology, and stabilising areas liberated from ISIL control.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to prevent the laundering of ISIL funds through Hawala brokers and similar informal money transfer systems; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK has a comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) regime and we are committed to ensuring our financial system is a hostile environment for illicit finances. We play a leading role in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the inter-governmental body that sets global standards on tackling money laundering and terrorist finance. The UK is considered by FATF to have one of the most robust AML and counter financing of terrorism (CFT) regimes.
A Hawala broker may operate as a Money Service Business (MSB) in the UK as long as it meets the requirements for registration with HMRC and FCA and follows the requirements of UK AML legislation. All MSBs are required to have systems in place to mitigate the risks of dealing with high risk customers, including those from high risk jurisdictions. HMRC is the supervisory authority for most MSBs under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs). HMRC’s role is to maintain a register of these businesses and ensure they are aware of, and comply with, their requirements by having appropriate risk based AML controls in place. HMRC is taking an increasingly robust approach to supervision of the MSB sector - for example, it committed to double its supervisory interventions in the sector by April 2015. HMRC is also focussing its efforts on raising the sector's understanding of the MLRs through providing updated guidance. Law enforcement, including the National Crime Agency and the UK National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit, actively look at the AML/CFT risks arising from the MSB sector.
Collective global action is necessary to tackle illicit finance including in relation to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the UK has been involved in two recent public statements, one by the FATF in October (http://www.fatf-gafi.org/documents/news/fatf-action-isil.html) and one at an international meeting on Combatting Terrorist Financing in November (http://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=7824&language=en-US&ItemId=4622).
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the revenue available to the ISIL derived from the territory it controls; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)’s main sources of revenue come from oil sales and extortion. Other sources have included foreign donors, kidnap ransom payments, and money stolen during its advances in recent months.
Air strikes targeting oil infrastructure and the liberation of oil fields have significantly reduced ISIL’s ability to access and refine oil.
As part of our strategy to combat ISIL, the UK led work on UN
Security Council Resolution 2170 which was adopted unanimously on 15 August. It condemns ISIL, the al-Nusra front and other terrorist groups listed under Al-Qaeda sanctions. The resolution urges members to take measures to choke ISIL’s sources of finance.
We are working with countries in the Middle East to counter the threat from terrorists and extremists across the region. Combating ISIL and degrading its financial support is a priority and we continue to discuss these issues with our partners, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Turkish authorities on preventing the smuggling of oil produced in territories controlled by ISIL.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We maintain a close and regular dialogue with Turkey about matters connected with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including preventing the smuggling of oil. I visited Turkey 29-30 November and discussed issues related to ISIL with President Erdoğan.
On 10 November the UK convened a meeting of the Core Group of the Friends of Syria which includes Turkey. We reaffirmed our commitment to a genuine political transition in co-operation with the UN Special Envoy; supporting the National Coalition to deliver services and protect the Syrian people; and strengthening measures against the Syrian regime including restricting its access to oil and military hardware.
In New York on 23 September, President Erdoğan reaffirmed Turkey’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations in the fight against terror. Together we have endorsed recent action at the UN to tighten the net around ISIL’s finance and recruitment operations (UNSCRs 2170 and 2178).