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This means the FIU, based at the Reserve Bank of Fiji building, will be provided with access to the group’s secure website for information sharing and gathering of intelligence.
The Egmont Group is an association of FIUs from various jurisdictions, which was first formed in 1995, and has membership of FIUs from around the world. It provides a forum for member FIUs to improve support to their respective governments in the fight against financial crimes.
Speaking from Doha, Fiji FIU director Razim Buksh said Fiji’s Egmont membership would further strengthen the cooperation, networking and sharing of intelligence at international level with counterpart FIUs, in the fight against serious criminal activities, including money laundering offences.
“Successful investigation and prosecution of complex crimes is becoming more and more dependent on the availability of timely intelligence,” Buksh said.
He said FIU made a formal application late last year to join Egmont Group. The Malaysian and Indonesian FIUs jointly sponsored Fiji FIU’s membership application of the Egmont Group.
“A high-level on-site assessment was carried out by the two sponsoring FIUs in December 2008 to ensure Fiji FIU’s compliance with the Egmont Group and other international standards,” Buksh said.
Buksh said Egmont’s consideration for full membership yesterday in Doha was a milestone achievement for Fiji and the Pacific Island region.
“Fiji is now fully compliant with the Financial Action Task Force Recommendation 26 on FIU,” he said.
Fiji FIU was established in 2006 under the FTR Act to receive information relating to suspicious transactions, $10,000 cash transaction reports, and all international electronic funds transfer transactions.
