Terrorismusbekämpfung mit den Instrumenten der Finanzmarktaufsicht

Abstract

Abstract In the aftermath of September 11, numerous western democracies enhanced their legal arsenal in the war against international terrorism. One of the major „battlegrounds“ is the area of finance law since liberalized capital markets bear the risk of being abused for terrorist financing. Even though the amounts which terrorists have required in the past to fund their attacks have been rather marginal, most states concentrate their efforts in this field. The reasons for tightening the regulatory regime are twofold. First, there is the hope that the strict supervision of financial markets will contribute to finding at least some traces that lead back to the terrorists themselves. Second, it is hoped that such tightening will deter potential supporters from abusing the markets, which in turn will cut terrorists off from their vital sources of support for further attacks. In this respect, measures to prevent money laundering, which are identical to the ones aimed at terrorist financing, play a major role...