On September 5, 2025, in Paris, a landmark collaboration unfolded: the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Egmont Group, INTERPOL, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) unveiled a new handbook on international cooperation to combat money laundering. This comprehensive guide is set to reshape how countries—and their financial investigators, prosecutors, and intelligence units—work together across borders to disrupt financial crime.
Why This Handbook Matters
This handbook is designed as a practical toolkit, giving financial intelligence units (FIUs), law enforcement officers, and prosecutors clear strategies for seamless cross-border information sharing and coordinated action. It not only provides methods to strengthen investigations but also emphasizes faster recovery of illicit assets and effective prosecution of criminals.
According to Egmont Group Chair Elżbieta Franków-Jaśkiewicz, the handbook will help authorities “accelerate investigations, recover illicit assets, and bring more criminals to justice” by promoting informal yet powerful cooperation networks. INTERPOL Secretary-General Valdecy Urquiza highlighted that the interconnected nature of today’s financial systems requires stronger collaboration, which is essential to cutting off criminal proceeds and safeguarding global prosperity.
What’s Inside the Handbook
The guide offers structured protocols on intelligence exchange, streamlined investigative workflows, and coordinated prosecution practices. It is designed to support multiple agencies—whether part of a national FIU, a prosecutor’s office, or law enforcement—providing each with tools to dismantle transnational money laundering networks effectively.
The Broader Impact
One of the biggest challenges in tackling financial crime is cross-border coordination. Criminal networks operate globally, exploiting gaps between jurisdictions. With this handbook, FATF, Egmont, INTERPOL, and UNODC have taken a decisive step in ensuring agencies worldwide are equipped to collaborate more efficiently, respond faster, and deliver stronger results.
This initiative signals a new era of global unity against financial crime—ensuring that no matter where illicit money moves, it faces a coordinated wall of resistance.
