The Chair of the Egmont Group

QUESTION 17. THE BASIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE EGMONT GROUP

The Egmont Group began in 1995 as a collection of a small number of national agencies, then referred to as “financial disclosure units” and today referred to as “financial intelligence units” (FIUs), seeking to explore ways of cooperation among themselves. The name of the Group originates from the name of the Egmont Arenberg Palace in Brussels, Belgium, where the inauguration conference was held.

The FIU concept has grown over the years and is now an important component of the international community’s approach to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. To meet the standards of Egmont membership an FIU must be a centralized unit within a nation or jurisdiction to detect criminal financial activity and ensure adherence to laws against financial crimes, including terrorist financing and money laundering. Since its inception, the Egmont Group has grown dramatically from a small group to a recognized membership of 131 FIUs. The Egmont Group is evolving toward a structure of independent units working closely together to strengthen not only their own countries’ anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime, but to strengthen the global firewall of economic resistance to money launderers and terrorist financiers. The current activities of the Egmont Group are governed by the Egmont Charter adopted in 2007.

The Egmont Group is an international network designed to improve interaction among FIUs in the areas of communications, information sharing, and training coordination. The goal of the Egmont Group is to provide a forum for FIUs around the world to improve support to their respective governments in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes. This support includes expanding and systematizing the exchange of financial intelligence information, improving expertise and capabilities of personnel employed by such organizations, and fostering better and more secure communication among FIUs through the application of technology. The Egmont Group’s secure Internet system, the Egmont Secure Web (ESW), permits members to communicate with one another via secure e-mail, requesting and sharing case information as well as posting and assessing information on typologies, analytical tools and technological developments. On behalf of the Egmont Group, the ESW is maintained by FinCEN (the FIU of the USA).

Structure and Organization of the Egmont Group

The Egmont Group is organizationally structured to meet the challenges of the volume of membership and its workload. The Heads of FIUs (HoFIUs), the Egmont Committee, the Working Groups and the Egmont Group Secretariat make up the operating structure of the Egmont Group.

The Heads of FIUs

The HoFIUs comprise the Egmont Group’s governing body; making decisions on any matters that affect the Group’s membership, structure, budget and principles. The HoFIUs reach decisions by consensus.

The Chair of the Egmont Group

In June 2010, Mr. Boudewijn Verhelst was appointed Chair of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

From 1975 to 1994, Mr. Verhelst served as King's Attorney (Public Prosecutor), in charge of the financial fraud section in Bruges. In 1994, he was appointed Deputy Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Gent. He has also been seconded as deputy director of the Belgian Financial Intelligence Processing Unit, CTIF-CFI since July 1993.

Mr. Verhelst brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his post as Chair. He was a lecturer in commercial and economic law at the Police Academy for the Province of West-Flanders, as well as Law Enforcement expert to the Moneyval Committee as part of the Council of Europe.

His other posting include Evaluator of legal and law enforcement in FATF, Council of Europe, CFATF, WB and various IMF AML/CFT assessments.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1490