Politics, technology and STRs – new Egmont Group chair on today’s challenges for FIUs

Xolisile Khanyile, the director of South Africa’sFinancial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has been appointed chair of the Egmont Group (EG) of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), taking over from July [2022] for a two-year term. She replaces the Netherlands’ Hennie Verbeek-Kusters, who had served as chair since 2020.Ms Khanyile is a career prosecutor, having also served for five years as South Africa’sdirector of public prosecutions (DPP). She assumes office as the AML/CFT world struggles with the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented sanctions that have followed this military aggression. Ms Khanyile will also have to continue dealing with the AML/CFT impact of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, FIUs are having to cope with the fast-changing world of virtual assets and the ongoing disruption resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. She explained to MLB in an exclusive interview how she plans to help the AML/CFT sector address this unprecedented set of challenges.

Interview by Keith Nuthall.

Xolisile Khanyile, the director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has been appointed chair of the Egmont Group (EG) of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), taking over from July [2022] for a two-year term. She replaces the Netherlands’ Hennie Verbeek-Kusters, who had served as chair since 2020 . Ms Khanyile is a career prosecutor, having also served for five years as South Africa’s director of public prosecutions (DPP). She assumes office as the AML/CFT world struggles with the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented sanctions that have followed this military aggression. Ms Khanyile will also have to continue dealing with the AML/CFT impact of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, FIUs are having to cope with the fast-changing world of virtual assets and the ongoing disruption resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. She explained to MLB in an exclusive interview how she plans to help the AML/CFT sector address this unprecedented set of challenges.