FIUs are normally not law enforcement agencies, but their mission is to process and analyze the information received. If sufficient evidence of unlawful activity is found, the matter is passed to the police or public prosecutors.[3] They complement the apparatus of administrative anti-money laundering supervision, which ensures that obliged entities transmit relevant information to the FIU.
Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) are specialized agencies responsible for receiving, analyzing, and disseminating financial information related to money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. They play a crucial role in the global fight against financial crime by collaborating with various stakeholders, including law enforcement, regulatory authorities, and international organizations. Here’s an overview of some prominent FIUs around the world:
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) - United States: FinCEN is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and focuses on combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes.
FATF (Financial Action Task Force): While not an FIU itself, FATF is an international body that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. It has a network of member countries and works closely with FIUs globally.
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) - United Kingdom: The SFO investigates and prosecutes serious and complex fraud, including financial crimes.
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC): AUSTRAC is Australia’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering regulator.
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC): FINTRAC is Canada’s FIU, focusing on detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Analysis (CFCSA) - India: CFCSA is the Indian FIU, which handles financial intelligence and investigations related to financial crimes.
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) - Singapore: The FIU in Singapore is known for its proactive approach to detecting and preventing financial crimes.
European Banking Authority (EBA): While the EBA itself is not an FIU, it works to strengthen the regulation and supervision of financial institutions within the EU, including measures related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.
Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) - South Africa: The FIC is responsible for collecting and analyzing financial data to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) - Japan: Japan's FIU works on analyzing suspicious financial transactions and enhancing the anti-money laundering framework in Japan.
These units often work in conjunction with one another, sharing information and coordinating efforts to tackle financial crimes on a global scale. They are part of a broader network of organizations and agencies committed to financial security and integrity.The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units is the global coordination venue for FIUs.
The Financial Intelligence Unit Network (FIU.NET) is a decentralized computer network that provides an information exchange between the financial intelligence units of the European Union.[5] FIU.NET is a decentralized system with no central database where the information is collected. All the connected FIUs have their FIU.NET equipment within their own premises and manage their own information. Through FIU.NET the connected FIUs create bilateral or multilateral cases. Ma3tch (autonomous, anonymous, analysis) is a matching tool within FIU.NET. Ma3tch makes it possible for FIUs to match names in order to find relevant data that is possessed by other connected FIUs. As the data is anonymized, there is no breaching of privacy and data protection rules.
The heads of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) around the world play crucial roles in combating financial crime, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. FIUs are typically national agencies responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence to combat these issues. Here are some prominent FIU heads and their respective countries, though it's worth noting that leadership can change.
PROMINENT EXECUTIVES
The executives leading these units are often prominent figures with extensive experience in finance, law enforcement, or regulatory affairs. Here are some notable executives and leaders associated with FIUs from around the world:
DAVID LEWIS Executive Secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
David Lewis[6] - Former Executive Secretary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which works closely with FIUs globally to set standards and promote effective implementation of measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.In 2021, David received the inaugural Financial Crime Fighter of the Year Award for outstanding leadership in the field of AML/CFT from the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime.
Tom Keatinge is the founding Director of the Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) at RUSI, Tom Keatinge[7]-Director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI (Royal United Services Institute), a leading think tank focusing on financial crime and security. Although not an executive within a specific FIU, Keatinge has significant influence in the field.Tom Keatinge has contributed to a variety of publications and media outlets; has given evidence to UK parliamentary and US congressional hearings and spoken at a range of high-level multilateral forums including the UN Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force and a number of its regional bodies.
Renaud Lachmann - Former Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Luxembourg, which is one of the leading financial centers in Europe.
YOSHITAKA KATO Expertise in handling Japan-U.S. cross-border transactions.Yoshitaka Kato[8] - Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Japan, overseeing efforts to combat money laundering and other financial crimes in one of the world's largest economies.
Marlene W. Mays - Executive Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Trinidad and Tobago, contributing to the region’s efforts in financial crime prevention.
Luis Eduardo Figueroa - Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Colombia, leading initiatives to address financial crimes in a country with a complex financial crime landscape.
THE HEAD of Germany’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Daniel Thelesklaf Daniel Thelesklaf[9] - Former head of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Switzerland, known for its significant role in international finance and anti-money laundering efforts.Daniel Thelesklaf who assumed the tough new role last year after a number of years with the United Nations. He has also previously served as the FIU chief in both Switzerland and Liechtenstein. A very experienced operator, Daniel took over after a number of embarrassing controversies at the German unit. He joined with a mission to change culture, embed priorities and also help with the transition to Germany’s new AML super-agency, the Federal Financial Crime Agency, which is in the process of being set up.
PRAVEEN KUMAR ,CIO ,FIU HEAD EAST ASIAPraveen kumar - Chief of the Financial Intelligence Unit in east asia, playing a key role in addressing financial crime in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing economies.Kumar has led the international Security and Foreign Policy Team and served as a member of the international Commission on finance, and Public Service.He has been featured top CEOs /Executives based in East Asia in 2023.
Catherine de bolle -Executive Director EuropolCatherine de bolle - Executive Director Europol ASIS Europe 2023 Keynote Speaker.Before taking up her post as Europol’s Executive Director in May 2018, Catherine De Bolle served as General Commissioner of the Belgian Federal Police from 2012.
Connected FIUs
FIU.NET is funded by the European Commission and participating FIUs.[10] Currently, the connected EU Member State FIUs are:[11] Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Governing body
FIU.NET is governed by a Board of Partners (BoP) formed by connected FIUs that have volunteered for a seat. The Board of Partners is chaired by an independent Director.[12]
Project management
Daily operation of the system is managed by the FIU.NET Bureau, a project bureau of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, which is housed in the Europol International headquarters in The Hague.
Representative Reports required from US financial institutions
Report and definition
Authority
Receiving Agency
Currency Transaction Report (CTR). Cash transactions in excess of $10,000 during the same business day. The amount over $10,000 can be either from one transaction or a combination of cash transactions.
Bank Secrecy Act
Internal Revenue Service
Negotiable Instrument Log (NIL). Cash purchases of negotiable instruments (e.g., money orders, cashiers checks, travelers cheques) having a face value of $3,000, or more.
Bank Secrecy Act
Internal Revenue Service
Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). Any cash transaction where the customer seems to be trying to avoid BSA reporting requirements (e.g., CTR, NIL). A SAR must also be filed if the customer's actions indicate that s/he is laundering money or otherwise violating federal criminal law. The customer must not know that a SAR is being filed.
Bank Secrecy Act
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Actions that can trigger an SAR being filed include:
Any kind of insider abuse of a financial institution, involving any amount;
Federal crimes against, or involving transactions conducted through, a financial institution that the financial institution detects and that involve at least $5,000 if a suspect can be identified, or at least $25,000 regardless of whether a suspect can be identified;
Transactions of at least $5,000 that the institution knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect involve funds from illegal activities or are structured to attempt to hide those funds;
Transactions of at least $5,000 that the institution knows, suspects or has reason to suspect are designed to evade any regulations promulgated under the Bankruptcy Secrecy Act; or
Transactions of at least $5,000 that the institution knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect have no business or apparent lawful purpose or are not the sort in which the particular customer would normally be expected to engage and for which the institution knows of no reasonable explanation after due investigation. The language of the RFPA indicates that a SAR filed under this rule comes from an individual transaction, not a profile of activities that make the transaction stand out.
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, underground sex work, terrorism, corruption, embezzlement, and gambling, and converting the funds into a seemingly legitimate source, usually through a front organization.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that collects and analyzes information about financial transactions to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes.
Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law, such as the United States' Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Internal Revenue Code section 6050I. Structuring may be done in the context of money laundering, fraud, and other financial crimes. Legal restrictions on structuring are concerned with limiting the size of domestic transactions for individuals.
In financial regulation, a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) or Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) is a report made by a financial institution about suspicious or potentially suspicious activity as required under laws designed to counter money laundering, financing of terrorism and other financial crimes. The criteria to decide when a report must be made varies from country to country, but generally is any financial transaction that either a) does not make sense to the financial institution; b) is unusual for that particular client; or c) appears to be done only for the purpose of hiding or obfuscating another, separate transaction. The report is filed with that country's Financial Intelligence Unit, which is typically a specialist agency designed to collect and analyse transactions and then report these to relevant law enforcement teams.
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) ('FATF, aka "Faftee"), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and to maintain certain interest. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.
Know your customer (KYC) guidelines and regulations in financial services require professionals to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship with a customer. The procedures fit within the broader scope of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism financing (CTF) regulations.
Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) is an Australian government financial intelligence agency responsible for monitoring financial transactions to identify money laundering, organised crime, tax evasion, welfare fraud and terrorism financing. AUSTRAC was established in 1989 under the Financial Transaction Reports Act 1988. It implements in Australia the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which Australia joined in 1990.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) refers to a set of policies and practices to ensure that financial institutions and other regulated entities prevent, detect, and report financial crime and especially money laundering activities. Anti-Money Laundering is often paired with the action against terrorism financing, or Combating the Financing of Terrorism, using the acronym AML-CFT. In addition arrangements intended to ensure that banks and other relevant firms duly report suspicious transactions, the AML policy framework includes financial intelligence units and relevant law enforcement operations.
Terrorism financing is the provision of funds or providing financial support to individual terrorists or non-state actors.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada is the national financial intelligence agency of Canada. FINTRAC was established in 2000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act to facilitate detection and investigation of money laundering, FINTRAC's mandate was expanded in December 2001 following amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act to also disclose financial intelligence to other Canadian intelligence and law enforcement agencies with respect to suspected terrorist financing. FINTRAC's mandate was further expanded in 2006 under Bill C-25 to enhance the client identification, record-keeping and reporting measures, established a registration regime for money services businesses and foreign exchange dealers, and created new offences for not registering.
The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units is an international organization that facilitates cooperation and intelligence sharing between national financial intelligence units (FIUs) to investigate and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. National FIUs collect information on suspicious or unusual financial activity and are responsible for processing and analyzing the information received. FIUs are normally not law enforcement agencies themselves, findings are shared with appropriate law enforcement or prosecution bodies if sufficient evidence of unlawful activity is found. The Egmont Group is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Financial intelligence (FININT) is the gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and capabilities, and predict their intentions. Generally the term applies in the context of law enforcement and related activities. One of the main purposes of financial intelligence is to identify financial transactions that may involve tax evasion, money laundering or some other criminal activity. FININT may also be involved in identifying financing of criminal and terrorist organisations. Financial intelligence can be broken down into two main areas, collection and analysis. Collection is normally done by a government agency, known as a financial intelligence organisation or Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The agency will collect raw transactional information and Suspicious activity reports (SAR) usually provided by banks and other entities as part of regulatory requirements. Data may be shared with other countries through intergovernmental networks. Analysis, may consist of scrutinizing a large volume of transactional data using data mining or data-matching techniques to identify persons potentially engaged in a particular activity. SARs can also be scrutinized and linked with other data to try to identify specific activity.
The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation is a Federal Service that was created by a decree of President Vladimir Putin of November 1, 2001, and aimed to collect and analyze information about financial transactions in order to combat domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. The organization also provides lists of people accused of terrorist or "extremist" activities and books.
Anti-money laundering (AML) software is software used in the finance and legal industries to help companies comply with the legal requirements for financial institutions and other regulated entities to prevent or report money laundering activities. AML software can facilitate faster and more accurate compliance and investigations.
In financial regulation, a politically exposed person (PEP) is one who has been entrusted with a prominent public function. A PEP generally presents a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption by virtue of their position and the influence they may hold. The terms "politically exposed person" and senior foreign political figure are often used interchangeably, particularly in international forums.
The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) is a FATF style regional inter-governmental (international) body, the members of which are committed to effectively implementing the international standards against money laundering, the combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. APG was founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand, and currently consists of 42 member jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region and a number of observer jurisdictions and international/regional observer organisations.
The Financial Monitoring Unit is the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Pakistan established under the provisions of Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. It is an independent intelligence service department of the Government of Pakistan and primarily responsible for analyzing transactions, money laundering cases, building efforts against the terrorist financing, and all sorts of financial crimes within the jurisdiction of financial laws of Pakistan.
MONEYVAL is the official denomination of the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism. It is a permanent monitoring body of the Council of Europe, with 35 member states and jurisdictions out of which 32 are assessed exclusively by MONEYVAL.
The Qatar Financial Information Unit (QFIU) is a Qatari government regulatory agency responsible for financial intelligence efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism. Like other national Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) around the world, it requires banks, investment companies, insurers and other financial institutions to report suspicious financial transactions. QFIU then analyzes the information and disseminates the relevant data to law enforcement authorities for further investigation and action.
The Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center or INTRAC or PPATK is a government agency of Indonesia responsible for financial intelligence. The agency was formed in 2002 to prevent and eradicate suspected illicit financial flows as money laundering and provide information on terrorist financing.
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