During the past decade, a number of countries have created specialised government agencies as part of their systems for dealing with the problem of money laundering. These entities are commonly referred to as "financial intelligence units" or "FIUs". These units increasingly serve as the focal point for national anti-money laundering programmes because they provide the possibility of rapidly exchanging information (between financial institutions and law enforcement / prosecutorial authorities, as well as between jurisdictions), while protecting the interests of the innocent individuals contained in their data.
The establishment of the first FIUs in the early 1990s was seen as a series of isolated events related to the specific needs of those jurisdictions which created them. Since 1995, however, a number of the FIUs began working together in an informal organisation known as the Egmont Group (named for the location of the first meeting in the Egmont-Arenberg Palace in Brussels). The goal of the group is to provide a forum for FIUs to improve support to their respective national anti-money laundering programmes. This support includes expanding and systematising the exchange of financial intelligence, improving expertise and capabilities of the personnel of such organisations, and fostering better communication among FIUs through the application of new technologies. An Information Paper prepared by the Egmont Group provides additional details on its work and the function of FIUs.
