It’s no secret that transnational and serious organised crime groups are flexible, adaptable and can be hard to detect when laundering money or moving funds to finance terrorism. 

Combating this threat requires a multilateral and collaborative response to keep pace, break down silos and prevent duplicating intelligence efforts.

It was this need that led to the creation of Fintel Alliance in 2017 – a public-private partnership led by AUSTRAC with representatives from government, law enforcement and industry.

Disrupting and preventing crime using financial intelligence works best when the right people with the right skills collaborate. Fintel Alliance’s operating model is built on the core principles of shared governance, shared strategy and shared investment.

The work

The public-private partnership has 30 members. Fintel Alliance leverages its resources and expertise to address risks across the financial sector and implement government intelligence priorities. 

Fintel Alliance’s work includes developing AUSTRAC’s Financial Crime Guides and leading working groups to share approaches to fighting crimes. An example is the Virtual Assets Working Group, which consists of law enforcement, intelligence agencies and digital currency exchanges. 

Information sharing is at the heart of Fintel Alliance, facilitated through staff secondments and partner co-location. Together, Fintel Alliance generates a greater understanding of financial crime methods, identifies and targets suspected offenders, and shares these learnings to harden the financial environment.

Short-term priorities

Over the next two years, Fintel Alliance will focus on 6 streams of work:

1. a public-private data-sharing hub
2. enduring and persistent financial crime threats
3. emerging technologies and fintech capabilities
4. high-risk sectors and jurisdictions
5. responding to emerging and community harms
6. national security threats.

Find out more

Visit the AUSTRAC website for more information about Fintel Alliance and where you can find real life case studies, a list of partners and links to performance reports.