Guernsey’s Financial Intelligence Unit has signed a memorandum of understanding with their counterparts in Bangladesh.
This comes as the Head of the FIU attended the 28th EGMONT Plenary in Riga, Latvia last week.
This was the first ‘in person’ plenary of the EGMONT Group – an international collective of financial intelligence units which facilitates cooperation and intelligence sharing to investigate and prevent money laundering, financing of terrorism and proliferation financing – since the pandemic began.
Adrian Hale, the Head of the Guernsey FIU, attended on behalf of the Bailiwick, and during his time there, signed an MOU following a bi-lateral meeting with Bangladesh’s FIU. It was also an opportunity to have face-to-face meetings with other international FIUs to discuss current FIU intelligence development cases and ongoing money laundering investigations being undertaken by the newly formed Economic and Financial Crime Bureau.
He said: “This plenary saw several hundred financial intelligence experts gather from around the world to talk about the ways in which we ensure we operate in an efficient, effective and modern manner. The content of the main meeting and the working groups was very fruitful for us in Guernsey as it focused on developing multi-lateral sharing of information with other FIUs and enhancing the sharing of information with the private sector, using the Private Public Partnership model which has been adopted by a number of countries. It was also an opportunity to meet and discuss mutual FIU matters with other EGMONT colleagues during the Plenary, allowing us to compare the way we work with other FIUs from around the globe.
“The President of Latvia opened the meeting and spoke about the current geopolitical environment in which we operate, which forces us to intensify the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
“The Bailiwick will always take activity of this kind seriously as it is of the upmost importance when it comes to protecting our reputation as a first-class international finance centre.” “We are also looking to develop our own Private Public Partnership within the Bailiwick so this was an opportunity to gain valuable experience from our international colleagues on how they share information with their public and private sectors”.
Deputy Rob Prow, President of the Committee for Home Affairs, said: “Financial security is very important for the Bailiwick for a number of reasons, and together, the Economic and Financial Crime Bureau and the FIU do an excellent job of protecting the island from people looking to move criminal money into, or through, our financial system. It is always important to work alongside colleagues form around the world in this sector, and ensuring Guernsey has a strong presence at these events ensures that we can remain at the front of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.”
