Central intelligence – project FIU

More than a letterbox or sorting office for suspicious activity reports, financial intelligence units are starting to realise their potential for analysis and impact on crime but the relationship with industry is not universally smooth. MLB’s international correspondents take soundings on their local FIUs: Alan Osborn reports from London; Lucy Jones from Dallas, Texas; Raghavendra Verma, is based in New Delhi; Julian Ryall in Tokyo; and Karryn Miller writes from Auckland.

There are 108 recognised Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) throughout the world and more are created every year as the fight against money laundering becomes ever more global. There is no standard form of incorporation or template for FIUs and their role, effectiveness, as well as their nomenclature, vary widely. In some countries the FIU is the lead agency, laying down policy and generally setting the terms of the campaign against launderers. In others, the FIU acts on policy lines determined by other government bodies and has a purely operational role. Some were created 15 or more years ago, others are only now taking shape. Some are free-standing, independent organisations, some sit in larger crime-fighting bodies. FIUs take almost as many different forms as there are countries that have established them but they share a common operational role - to receive information from financial institutions, analyse and pass it on to the authorities. This transfer of information from banks and other financial institutions to law enforcement bodies, and its expert analysis, is now at the heart of anti-money laundering campaigns worldwide.