The financial sector joins the Congress on Public-Private Collaboration in the Fight against the Financing of Terrorism and Radicalism organised by the Spanish National Police

The conference featured presentations by various experts from the police, the public sector and private entities, all prominent players in the prevention and fight against the financing of terrorism and radicalism

The event, which was attended by more than 200 guests, was organised by the General Intelligence Office as part of its commitment to investigate and neutralise serious threats to National Security

The National Police organised the first national congress on 'Public-Private Collaboration in the Fight against the Financing of Terrorism and Radicalism' at the CECA auditorium in Madrid. The meeting brought together numerous specialists in the field of preventing, detecting and combating the financing of terrorism. The conference, organised by the General Intelligence Office, in collaboration with the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences (SEPBLAC) and the Public Treasury, and the support of: AEB, ASNEF, CECA, Mastercard and Sayari.

Strengthening public-private links

In this field, there are various working groups at national level that have promoted the organisation of this first congress, with the aim of establishing and reinforcing links with those responsible for the prevention and detection of the financing of terrorism and radicalism. To this end, topics such as the current state of terrorism, radicalism and its financing, players responsible for the financing of terrorism, cryptocurrencies as a means of financing and public-private collaboration were addressed during the conference.

The expert speakers, who participated in this conference, represent different organisations and bodies from both the public and private sectors that play an essential role in the fight against terrorism. Representatives of the following national and international organisations were invited to attend the event: National High Court, Bank of Spain, CNMV, CRAB, CITCO, EUROPOL, Interpol and OCP-Notaries Public.

The Commissioner General for Intelligence of the National Police, Eugenio Pereiro Blanco, inaugurated the conference together with Pedro Comín Rodríguez, Director of SEPBLAC, Lourdes Jiménez Ramos, Deputy Director of the Public Treasury, and Chief Commissioner Marcial Píriz de Vargas Machuca. They all stressed the importance of collaboration between the different bodies, which is fundamental for the prevention of the problems addressed, 'if you have to take one word from this conference, it is collaboration'.

The first panel, moderated by Raquel Cabeza, Corporate Director of Risks and Compliance at Cecabank, featured: Marta Laguno Álvarez, Chief Inspector of the National Police, Felipe Vergara del Toro, analyst of the National Police, and Jorge Vallet Fernández, professor at the University of Alcalá, and addressed the fight against the financing of terrorism. It was made clear that financial institutions are fully committed to combating the financing of terrorism and, to this end, public-private collaboration and knowledge of trends observed by the authorities are vital to ensure effective prevention measures.

Afterwards, Juan José Matías González, head of Fraud Prevention and Money Laundering at ASNEF, moderated the panel on the financing of terrorism at SEPBLAC, a body to which all the speakers on the panel belonged: Juan Carlos Calleja, Division Head, Eduardo Bañares, Unit Manager, and Antonio Sevilla, Analyst. The main conclusion of this debate was that in any area involving prevention, be it fraud, money laundering or the financing of terrorism, information sharing is essential, hence the importance of public-private collaboration.

Finally, the Legal Advisor of the Spanish Banking Association, María Peco González, moderated the discussion at the 'Roundtable on institutional and private sector collaboration in the fight against the financing of terrorism', featuring: Antonio Rubén Sánchez del Castillo, Deputy Director of Counterterrorism Operations at Interpol, Luis Manuel López-Crego Gómez, National Liaison Officer (EUROPOL), Alberto López González, Deputy Chairman of Mastercard, and Claudio di Gregorio, Enterprise Account Executive at SAYARI.

The main theme of the discussion was the importance of public-private collaboration between institutions and the private sector in combating the financing of terrorism. It also addressed challenges and examples/success stories that help in a common struggle that involves both sectors.