By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Egmont Group, INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have combined to launch a new AML handbook.
The organizations said the instructions provide “essential tools” to help countries speed up financial crime investigations.
They said the handbook should facilitate “stronger global collaboration among analysts, investigators, prosecutors”.
The organizations intend the handbook to guide financial intelligence units (FIUs), law enforcement and prosecutors.
Elisa de Anda Madrazo, the FATF President, said cross-border financial crime “requires an international response”.
“We need to see countries working more effectively together and multiplying our defences to keep people safe, bring more criminals to justice and recover ill-gotten gains,” she said.
The full handbook can be found [HERE].
International cooperation
The FATF said the handbook “responds to the globalisation of financial systems and rapid technological advancements”.
It added that the handbook “promotes informal cooperation”. Examples include “secure communication channels” and “rapid response mechanisms”.
The FATF said these investigation methods “provide faster, more flexible, and targeted investigations”.
Officials said these can “complement formal, usually legal processes”. It noted these are “often slower and procedurally complex”.
“[These] demand faster intelligence and action to keep pace with criminals,” it said.
Elżbieta Franków-Jaśkiewicz, the Egmont Group Chair, said the handbook equips financial crime fighters “with the tools they need to cooperate more effectively across borders”.
“By promoting informal cooperation and offering actionable guidance, it helps authorities accelerate investigations,” she said.
MsGhada Fathy Ismail Waly, UNDOC’s Executive Director, said international cooperation is key to fight financial crime.
“This publication will help practitioners make more effective use of informal cooperation,” she said.
She added it will also “improve investigation outcomes, and ultimately confiscate and recover proceeds of crime”.
INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said: “Tackling money laundering requires unity across borders and between organizations. This handbook is an important step in achieving this.”
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