# Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing

The Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is an office within the United States Treasury Department, tasked with formulating, coordinating, and executing the U.S. government's counterterrorism financing and anti-money laundering strategies. The office is positioned under the purview of the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes. Appointed by the President of the United States with Senate approval, this position directly responds to global counterterrorism efforts.
Established by U.S. Congress in 2004 amid the evolving post-9/11 security landscape, the office represents a proactive stance against the financial mechanisms that fuel terrorist activities worldwide. The Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is involved in strengthening U.S. and international financial systems against abuse by terrorist networks, maintaining connections with foreign governments, international organizations, and private sector entities to promote coordinated global action.

## Establishment and responsibilities

The office of Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing is statutorily responsible for "formulating and coordinating the counter terrorist financing and anti-money laundering efforts of the Department of the Treasury". It is subordinate to that of the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes and is appointed by the President of the United States, subject to the approval of the U.S. Senate. The office of Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing was established by the United States Congress in 2004.

## Previous officeholders

| Name | Term | Notes |
| Elizabeth Rosenberg | 2022–2024 | Rosenberg previously worked as a director of the energy, economics and security program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank, and as a senior adviser to the Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence between 2009 and 2013. |
| Marshall Billingslea | 2017–2021 | |
| Daniel Glaser | 2011–2017 | Glasser served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing from 2004 to 2011. |
| David Cohen | 2009–2011 | Prior to accepting appointment as Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Cohen worked as an attorney at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. He left the post to accept an appointment as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. In 2015 he was appointed deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. |
| Pat O'Brien | 2005–2009 | O'Brien previously served as counsel to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After leaving office he went to work for Booz Allen Hamilton and sat on the board of advisors of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. |
| Juan Carlos Zarate | 2004–2005 | In 2014, Zarate accepted appointment to the board that oversees the Vatican's Institute for the Works of Religion, a move announced by Cardinal Pell of the Vatican Finance Ministry as part of Pope Francis I's efforts to clean up the finances of the Vatican. From 1988 to 1989 he served one term as student body president of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. He was selected for the Youth Inaugural Conference which was invited to that year's inauguration of George H. W. Bush. |