Three delegates of GIF attended the Egmont Group Working Group Meetings 2020, which was held in Balaclava, Mauritius, from 27th January to 30th January 2020. Topics on the collection and exchange of information, policy and procedures, technical assistance, etc. had been discussed during the Meetings.
The Egmont Group holds two meetings annually, the Working Groups and Regional Groups Meeting and the Plenary. Aside from providing a platform to facilitate the exchange of intelligence and cooperation among its 164 FIU members, the Egmont Group Meetings also provide opportunities for the FIUs to enhance the analytical and investigative skills on emerging financial crimes, and to provide technical support for FIUs on their establishment and operations.
The Egmont Working Group Meetings 2020 explored the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) facing the world today, including: virtual assets, asset recovery, cybercrime, FINTECH and large-scale cross-border money laundering. Moreover, the Meetings addressed the recommendations for existing impediments on information exchange between FIUs. Through the Egmont Meetings, GIF could keep abreast of the latest information and international trend on financial crimes, GIF could also maintain close communication and cooperation with overseas financial intelligence units, which is the key to effective prevention and suppression of ML/TF.
Over the years, GIF has been actively participating the international conferences on ML/TF, to learn from others’ expertise and to foster international cooperation. Locally, GIF shares the latest trends with law enforcement agencies, supervisory agencies and private sectors, to further strengthen the preventive measures against ML/TF, with the ultimate aim to maintain financial security and public safety of Macao SAR.
