Financial Crime World

Jordan’s NPO Sector Faces Medium Risk of Terrorist Financing

Amman, Jordan - A recent report by the Association Registry, the regulatory body for approximately 77% of the non-profit organization (NPO) sector in Jordan, has found that the overall adequacy of mitigating measures against terrorist financing is medium.

Assessment and Recommendations

The report assesses the inherent risk of NPOs being exploited in terrorist financing activities as Low-Medium. While there are some measures in place to prevent and detect such activity, more needs to be done to address the high-risk factors identified by the assessment team.

To mitigate these risks, the Association Registry has made several key recommendations:

  • Formal Written Mechanism: Introduce a formal written mechanism for identifying and scoring terrorist financing (TF) risks, which would facilitate targeted supervision and monitoring of NPOs.
  • Preventive Measures and Sanctions: Implement a set of TF preventive measures and relevant sanctions for NPOs that fail to comply with these measures.
  • Enhanced Transparency and Governance: Enhance transparency and governance within NPOs and their regulations and inspections processes.

Improved Coordination and Information Sharing

The report also highlights the need for improved coordination and information sharing between regulatory bodies, law enforcement agencies, and NPO regulators. This includes establishing an operational standing Liaison Technical Committee under the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee to ensure effective cooperation and information sharing.

Capacity-Building Programs

In addition, the Association Registry recommends expanding outreach programs to protect NPOs from terrorist financing risks, including:

  • Designing Capacity-Building Programs: Design capacity-building programs for NPO staff and management.
  • Face-to-Face and Online Training Sessions: Implement face-to-face and online training sessions and awareness-raising activities.

Continued Efforts

The report concludes that while there are some areas of improvement needed, the efforts of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Fifth National Action Plan 2021-2025 should be continued to develop policies and procedures that adopt a risk-based approach in supervising NPOs.

Full Report Available

The full report can be found on the Association Registry’s website.