According to the FATF website:

"After the tragic events that took place in the United States on 11 September 2001, governments world-wide called for an immediate and co-ordinated effort to detect and prevent the misuse of the international financial system by terrorists..."

"At an extraordinary plenary meeting on the financing of terrorism held in Washington, DC, in October 2001, the FATF thus expanded its mission beyond money laundering to focus its energy and expertise on a world-wide effort to combat terrorist financing. The FATF issued new international standards for combating terrorist financing – the Eight Special Recommendations – and called on all countries to adopt and implement them. Implementing these Special Recommendations will deny access for terrorists and their supporters to the international financial system..."

Recommendations VI and VII relate to the transfer of funds via electronic means.

Although in their early days the Internet's new, non-traditional financial institutions escaped supervisory oversight, Recommendation VI might address this loophole:

"VI. Each country should take measures to ensure that persons or legal entities, including agents, that provide a service for the transmission of money or value, including transmission through an informal money or value transfer system or network, should be licensed or registered and subject to all the FATF Recommendations that apply to banks and non-bank financial institutions. Each country should ensure that persons or legal entities that carry out this service illegally are subject to administrative, civil or criminal sanctions."

In addition, Recommendation VII requires that the banking institution verify the identity of senders and receivers of funds and that the institution keep this information on file -- signaling the possible extinction of anonymous cash transactions as our actions become increasingly network-oriented. The provisions read:

"VII. Countries should take measures to require financial institutions, including money remitters, to include accurate and meaningful originator information (name, address and account number) on funds transfers and related messages that are sent, and the information should remain with the transfer or related message through the payment chain.

"Countries should take measures to ensure that financial institutions, including money remitters, conduct enhanced scrutiny of and monitor for suspicious activity funds transfers which do not contain complete originator information (name, address and account number)."