Understanding the risks non-profit organisations face from terrorist financing schemes

The Charity Commission for England and Wales is seeking information from UK’s voluntary sector and wider civil society to help us identify and understand potential vulnerabilities, trends and threats in respect of the risk of terrorist financing abuse.

Non-profit organisations (NPOs), which make up the sector, are an integral part of our society. They do vital and important work, and we want to help them do this safely.

As there is no single regulator in the UK for the entire NPO sector, the Commission is leading this work, as it did in 2016-2017, with support from other UK regulators. 

We are keen to receive responses from all NPOs regardless of whether or not they are charities, and wherever they operate in the UK.

This questionnaire will help us to identify and understand potential vulnerabilities, trends and threats.

This questionnaire closes at 23.59 on 31 January 2025

Please respond through our online questionnaire.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body that leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing (the funding of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons). It sets international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the harm that they cause to society. The FATF Recommendations set out a framework of measures which countries should implement; FATF’s Recommendation 8 relates to combating the terrorist financing abuse of NPO.

The Commission is currently undertaking a review of the UK’s NPO sector, in accordance with FATF’s Recommendation 8, to help us and HM Government assess its vulnerability to terrorist financing.

The FATF definition of a NPO refers to a legal person or arrangement or organisation that primarily engages in raising or disbursing funds for purposes such as charitable, religious, cultural, educational, social or fraternal purposes, or for the carrying out of other types of “good works”.  

The UK’s NPO sector, often referred to as the voluntary sector or civil society, is large and encompasses a wide range of entities. As there is no single regulator in the UK for the entire NPO sector, the Commission is leading this work, as it did in 2016-2017, with support from associated regulators in the other sectors and parts of the UK.

We are keen to receive responses from all NPOs regardless of whether or not they are charities, and wherever they operate in the UK.

This questionnaire will support the Commission’s review, helping us to identify and understand potential vulnerabilities, trends and threats facing the NPO sector. The responses will be used to inform future engagement and outreach with the NPO sector, and to inform the review of laws and regulation to combat the abuse of NPOs for terrorist financing.

Please note that the Commission is not seeking any personal information within this questionnaire; all responses are voluntary and anonymous.

For more information on how the Commission processes your data, please see our  Privacy Notice.

If you have any additional comments or information that you would like to share with the Commission in respect of this consultation, please contact us via email consultation@charitycommission.gov.uk