he Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Egmont Group, INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), are calling for stronger global collaboration among analysts, investigators, prosecutors and others as they launch a practical Handbook on International Cooperation against Money Laundering, providing essential tools to help countries speed up investigations and bring more criminals to justice.

Money laundering almost always crosses borders, and criminals exploit gaps between national legal systems to hide their activities and avoid punishment. Yet, FATF evaluations consistently show that investigating, prosecuting and sanctioning money laundering remains one of the weakest areas worldwide. Without more effective co-operation, countries cannot stop financial crime in its tracks.

Speeding up investigations - The handbook responds to the globalisation of financial systems and rapid technological advancements, which demand faster intelligence and action to keep pace with criminals.

It therefore promotes informal cooperation, such as secure communication channels, rapid response mechanisms and joint analysis, which can provide faster, more flexible, and targeted investigations, complementing formal, usually legal processes, which are often slower and procedurally complex.

Impactful collaboration - The handbook highlights real-world cases that demonstrate the impact of international cooperation:

• Financial Intelligence Units in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands uncovered a €95 million cross-border laundering scheme through joint analysis and intelligence sharing.
• Operation AVARUS-X in Australia, supported by U.S. Homeland Security, dismantled a laundering network exploiting money service businesses to transfer billions of AUD annually.
• U.S. and Indian authorities co-ordinated in real time to seize cryptocurrency assets worth USD 150 million linked to drug trafficking.
  An INTERPOL-supported multinational investigation into rhino horn trafficking secured convictions in Singapore, backed by evidence from South Africa.

Guides for financial intelligence units, law enforcement and prosecutors - The organisations warn that criminals will continue to exploit legal loopholes unless financial intelligence units, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperate more effectively. They have therefore developed three ‘practical guides’ to accompany the handbook.

• Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For FIUs (financial intelligence units)
• Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For LEAs (law-enforcement authorities)
• Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For Prosecutors