Multilateral Illicit Currency Flows Study

Action Item 4.5.3 of the National Money Laundering Strategy for 2000 (NMLS) calls for mechanisms and processes associated with the movement of criminal proceeds into, through, and out of the United States and other at-risk nations. In January 2001, agreement was reached in principle with a Core Group of nations represented in the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units and other interested countries to explore the feasibility of jointly analyzing illicit currency movements over large geographic areas. Discussions involving the Core Group (comprised of nations in the Americas, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia) centered on the potential utility of aggregate suspicious/ unusual transaction data reported by financial institutions in identifying and tracking the movement of criminal proceeds into, out of, and/or through individual nations and geographic areas. Core Group representatives16 agreed to continue discussions on both a bilateral and multilateral basis with the goal of initiating a joint process for analyzing and sharing information reflecting illicit currency movements.

Excerpted from SAR Activity Review Issue 2, page 23