Egmont Group Chair Highlights the Importance of Speed, Trust, and Cooperation in Fighting Financial Crime
đź“Ť Dublin | 29 April
This week, Elżbieta Franków-Jaśkiewicz, Chair of the Egmont Group, delivered a keynote address at the European Anti‑Financial Crime Summit 2026, presenting a Financial Intelligence Unit perspective on how international cooperation must adapt to the speed, complexity, and scale of today’s criminal threats.
In his remarks, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris, who delivered a keynote address, welcomed the Egmont Group and other international organizations to the Summit and underscored the importance of collaboration and partnership as key enablers in effectively combating financial crime.
In her keynote address, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Elisa de Anda Madrazo referred to the Ministerial Declaration and the current round of FATF evaluations. She underlined the importance of formal cooperation frameworks, while also emphasising the value of informal and operational collaboration, particularly in addressing evolving threats such as fraud. She also highlighted risk‑based supervision as a priority for the incoming FATF Presidency.
Mme. Franków Jaśkiewicz’s keynote focused on what effective cooperation looks like in practice for FIUs, including:
Trusted international cooperation
The Chair emphasised the Egmont Group’s role as a trusted operational network enabling FIUs to exchange financial intelligence securely, quickly, and with confidence, while protecting and promoting operational independence and autonomy.
Speed as a decisive factor in fraud cases
The address highlighted why rapid cross‑border cooperation is critical when responding to fraud, noting that early action significantly increases the likelihood of fund recovery, including through the Egmont CEF Rapid Response Program.
🔗 Illicit Financial Flows from Cyber‑Enabled Fraud (Egmont Group, public report)
Technology and responsible innovation
The keynote addressed how FIUs are increasingly using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to support screening and analysis, while underscoring the importance of trust, security, transparency, and compliance with national legal frameworks.
🔗 Use of Open Source in FIUs’ Operational and Strategic Analysis (Egmont Group)
Effective information sharing in practice
The Chair stressed that effective information sharing is not about policy statements, but about timely, targeted, and actionable intelligence delivering real operational outcomes, supported by trust, secure channels, and well‑trained analysts.
