To combat money laundering, terrorism financing (ML/TF) and other serious financial crime a powerful global response is needed. That is why AUSTRAC is a member of several international organisations that work to combat the harm these criminals cause our community.

Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units

The Egmont Group is a united body of Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) from 166 countries which provides a platform for FIUs to collaborate to fight financial crime. AUSTRAC represents Australia at this forum which draws upon the operational experience of FIUs and their partners to explore global ML/TF trends and consider new methods to detect and disrupt financial crime.

In July, AUSTRAC attended the 28th Egmont Group Plenary in Riga, Latvia. This event included 320 delegates and 103 FIUs who gathered to contribute towards improving international collaboration and effectiveness. To view a public summary of the outcomes of these meetings please see the Co-Chairs-Statement: 28^th EG Plenary Latvia.

A number of operational projects have also recently been finalised by the forum with the public summaries available on the Egmont Group website. Projects considered topics such as ways to strengthen global asset recovery efforts, further disrupt professional money laundering networks and avenues for FIUs and FinTech entities to collaborate to fight financial crime.

For more information, see the Public summary: Asset Recovery – The Role of FIUs report.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

The FATF is an intergovernmental body that sets international anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards. These standards aim to prevent ML/TF activities and the harm they cause to society. The FATF works globally to generate political will to bring about legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

AUSTRAC recently attended the FATF Plenary in Paris, France where the FATF President T. Raja Kumar articulated his priorities for the next two years. An updated list of ‘jurisdictions under increased monitoring’ (the FATF ‘grey list’) was also released.

See the below links for further details:

• FATF priorities 2022-2024
• FATF jurisdictions under increased monitoring

Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG)

The FATF achieves global reach through the establishment of FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs). Australia is a member of the FSRB for the Asia-Pacific region, which works to ensure its 41 members effectively implement the FATF Standards. AUSTRAC coordinates Australia's engagement with the APG.

AUSTRAC recently attended the APG 2022 Annual Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the incoming Canadian co-chair articulated his priorities. During this meeting the members agreed to a range of proposals, including release of the 2022 APG Typologies Report regarding ‘Financing and facilitation of foreign terrorist fighters and returners in Southeast Asia’. The APG also recently released a typologies report on foreign terrorist fighters connected to Southeast Asia.

For more information, please see the outcomes for the 2022 APG Annual Meeting and access a copy the Typologies Report.

Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime (GCFFC)

Founded in 2018, the GCFFC brings together different key players in the fight against financial crime. It seeks to achieve its overarching purpose of mitigating financial crime by identifying key weaknesses in the current system, advocating for tangible reforms at political and policy levels, and making the global anti-money laundering framework more effective. Its main objectives are to::

• Raise global awareness of financial crime as a critical challenge with grave financial and human consequences
• Promote more effective information sharing between public and private entities
• Propose mechanisms to identify emerging threats and best practice approaches to build more robust controls against money laundering
• Identify pressure points in the current anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist framework and propose solutions to these.

Representing different parts of the anti-financial crime ecosystem, the GCFFC seeks to blend best-in-class approaches to financial crime management, risk intelligence, law enforcement capabilities, public-private information sharing and thought leadership on financial crime prevention. AUSTRAC is a member of the Law Enforcement and FIU Sub-Group of the Effectiveness Working Group of the GCFFC which involves multiple FIUs, financial institutions and global law enforcement agencies.

For more information, please visit the Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime website.