Sergei Osipov, the deputy head of Rosfinmonitoring, said the list was formed according to provisions of the law on Measures Against Terrorist Financing. One-third of the names on the list were taken from the UN international list and two-thirds of the organizations and individuals listed were compiled by Russian courts.
The official also said banking circles have been constantly demanding that the number of names on the list be reduced, insisting that quite often crimes in the banking sphere could be called terrorist activities only formally. However, Rosfinmonitoring is against shortening the list considering the current level of terrorist threat.
The service also maintains a database that includes an additional 2,000 names of suspected terrorism financiers provided by foreign sources, Osipov said.
The official said banks had recently improved their level of compliance with the anti-terrorism financing legislation.
"The number and quality of reports from the banks have been constantly increasing," he said.
He added that one of the shortcomings of the banks was the delay in reporting suspicious transactions.
