UK’s Counter-terrorist Asset Freezing Regime
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Harriett Baldwin)
Under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc. Act 2010 (TAFA 2010), the Treasury is required to report to Parliament, quarterly, on its operation of the UK’s asset freezing regime mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 1373.
This is the 17th report under the Act and it covers the period from 1 October 2015 to 31 December 20151. This report also covers the UK implementation of the UN Al-Qaida asset freezing regime and the operation of the EU asset freezing regime in the UK under EU regulation (EC) 2580/2001 which implements UNSCR 1373 against external terrorist threats to the EU. Under the UN Al-Qaida asset freezing regime, the UN has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under the Al-Qaida (Asset-Freezing) Regulations 2011. Under EU regulation 2580/2001, the EU has responsibility for designations and the Treasury has responsibility for licensing and compliance with the regime in the UK under part 1 of TAFA 2010.
Annexes A and B to this statement provide a breakdown, by name, of all those designated by the UK and the EU in pursuance of UN Security Council resolution 1373. The two individuals subject to designations, which have been notified on a restricted and confidential basis, under sections 3 and 10 of TAFA 2010 are denoted by A and B.
The following table sets out the key asset-freezing activity in the UK during the quarter ending 31 December 2015:
TAFA 2010 | EU Reg (EC) 2580/2001 | Al-Qaida regime UNSCR1989 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assets frozen (as at 30/12/2015) | £15,000 | £11,0002 | £60,0003 |
Number of accounts frozen in UK (at 31/12/2015) | 36 | 10 | 33 |
New accounts frozen (during Q4 2015) | 2 | 0 | 14 |
Accounts unfrozen (during Q4 2015) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Total number of designations (including restricted designations at 31/12/2015) | 25 | 0 | 322 |
(i) New designations (during Q4 2015, including confidential designations) | 0 | 0 | 25 |
(ii) Number of designations that were confidential (during Q4 2015) | 0 | N/A | N/A |
(iii) Delistings (during Q4 2015) | 5 | 0 | 7 |
(iv) Individuals in custody in UK (at 31/12/2015) | 2 | 0 | 0 |
(v) Individuals in UK, not in custody (at 31/12/2015) | 1 | 0 | 2 |
(vi) Individuals overseas (at 31/12/2015) | 15 | 10 | 239 |
(vii) Groups | 7 | 23 | 74 |
Individuals by nationality (i) UK Nationals4 (ii) Non UK Nationals | 4 14 | N/A | N/A |
Renewal of designation (during Q4 2015) | 5 | N/A | N/A |
General Licences (i) Issued in Q4 (ii) Amended (iii) Revoked | (i) 0 (ii) 0 (iii) 0 | ||
Specific Licences | |||
(i) Issued in Q4 (ii) Amended (iii) Expired (iv) Revoked/Redundant (v) Refused | 3 3 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 0 0 | 2 0 0 0 0 |
Legal Proceedings
Moazzem BEGG, who was previously designated under TAFA 2010, lodged an appeal on 3 November 2014, challenging the Treasury’s decision to revoke rather than quash his designation. These proceedings were ongoing during the reporting period.
One individual, C, designated under TAFA 2010 lodged an appeal against their designation on 21 May 2015. These proceedings were ongoing during the reporting period. They lodged their witness statement on 11 September 2015. Additional evidence was filed on 9 November and the special advocate filed a series of questions for HMT in December. HMT responded to these points of disclosure on 15 January.
There were no criminal proceedings in respect of breaches of asset freezes made under TAFA 2010, during the reporting period.
Annex A—Designated persons under TAFA 2010 by name5
Individuals
1. Hamed ABDOLLAHI
2. Imad Khalil AL-ALAMI
3. Abdelkarim Hussein AL-NASSER
4. Ibrahim Salih AL-YACOUB
5. Manssor ARBABSIAR
6. Usama HAMDAN
7. Nur Idiris HASSAN NUR
8. Nabeel HUSSAIN
9. Hasan IZZ-AL-DIN
10. Mohammed KHALED
11. Parviz KHAN
12. Musa Abu MARZOUK
13. Khalid MISHAAL
14. Khalid Shaikh MOHAMMED
15. Abdul Reza SHAHLAI
16. Ali Gholam SHAKURI
17. Qasem SOLEIMANI
18. A (restricted designation)
Entities
1. Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
2. Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN)
3. Fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)
4. Hizballah Military Wing, including external security organisation
5. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command (PFLP-GC)
6. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—(PFLP)
7. Sendero Luminoso (SL)
Annex B: Persons designated by the EU under Council Regulation (EC)2580/20016
Persons
1. Hamed ABDOLLAHI*
2. Abdelkarim Hussein AL-NASSER*
3. Ibrahim Salih AL YACOUB*
4. Manssor ARBABSIAR*
5. Mohammed BOUYERI
6. Hasan IZZ-AL-DIN*
7. Khalid Shaikh MOHAMMED*
8. Abdul Reza SHAHLAI*
9. Ali Gholam SHAKURI*
10. Qasem SOLEIMANI*
Groups and Entities
1. Abu Nidal Organisation (ANO)
2. Al-Aqsa E.V.
3. Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade
4. Babbar Khalsa
5. Communist Party of the Philippines, including New People’s Army (NPA), Philippines
6. Devrimci Halk Kurtulu Partisi-Cephesi—DHKP/C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army/Front/Party)
7. Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army)*
8. Fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)*
9. Gama’a al-lslamiyya (a.k.a. Al-Gama’a al-lslamiyya) (Islamic Group—IG)
10. Hamas, including Hamas-Izz al-Din al-Qassem
11. Hizballah Military Wing, including external security organisation
12. Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)
13. Hofstadgroep
14. International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)
15. Islami Büyük Dogu Akincilar Cephesi (IBDA-C) (Great Islamic Eastern Warriors Front)
16. Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF)
17. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) (a.k.a. KONGRA-GEL)
18. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
19. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
20. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—General Command (PFLP-GC)*
21. Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine—(PFLP)*
22. Sendero Luminoso (SL) (Shining Path)*
23. Teyrbazen Azadiya Kurdistan (TAK)
1 These figures are correct as at 30 September 2015.
2 This does not duplicate funds frozen under TAFA.
3 This figure reflects the most up-to-date account balances available and includes approximately $64,000 of funds frozen in the UK. This has been converted using exchange rates as of 31/12/2015. Additionally the figures reflect an updating of balances of accounts for certain individuals during the quarter, depleted through licensed activity.
4 Based on information held by the Treasury, some of these individuals hold dual nationality.
5 For full listing details please refer to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-list-of-designated-persons-terrorism-and-terrorist-financing
6 For full listing details please refer to www.gov.uk
* EU listing rests on UK designation under TAFA 2010
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