News and Events

Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan – 9 July 2026

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, convening its 32^nd Plenary Meeting in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, adopts this Statement.

The Egmont Group member FIUs stand united in the belief that robust and effective public-private partnerships (PPPs)[1] have become essential, not merely beneficial, in countering the evolving and complex challenges posed by money laundering, its associated predicate offences and terrorist financing. Drawing on the proven effectiveness of these partnerships and the growing impetus from national, regional, and international efforts, we are committed to support the evolution of PPPs toward a more forward-looking model – transnational in scope, where needed; enabled by appropriate technology; grounded in legal certainty; fully respectful of privacy and data protection principles; and backed by enduring resources.

Leveraging its trusted secure channels and longstanding framework for FIU-to-FIU cooperation, and drawing on existing initiatives, the Egmont Group, where possible, agrees to acting as an enabler among national PPPs by facilitating the exchange of relevant financial intelligence between FIUs, enabling insights developed in one jurisdiction to inform action in another and supporting operationally effective cross-border cooperation.

Building on this foundation, we commit to shifting away from limited, ad hoc information exchanges toward more structured, intelligence-driven collaboration. We recognize that legal uncertainty and the practical challenges of data sharing remain among the most significant constraints on effective PPPs. Addressing these constraints requires leadership, clear legal bases, appropriate safeguards, trust, and, where feasible, safe-harbour mechanisms that give both FIUs, reporting entities and other partners, the confidence to participate meaningfully.

Where capacity permits, technology can be a powerful enabler: tools such as privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), federated learning approaches, secure multi-party computation, and where appropriate artificial intelligence-driven analysis can support the early identification of risks and emerging patterns, while strictly adhering to data protection and confidentiality principles. Nonetheless, human-led intelligence must remain the decisive authority, ensuring oversight, contextual judgment, and accountability in all analytical outcomes. At the same time, we emphasize that effective PPPs do not require advanced or costly infrastructure. Well-designed and structured information-sharing arrangements can deliver meaningful results across a wide range of jurisdictions, including those with limited technological capacity. Technology should therefore be understood as an enabler, not a barrier to initiating conversations on PPPs.

FIUs should continue to lead the development of PPPs, governance frameworks, interoperability protocols, and oversight mechanisms to ensure data is consistent, comprehensive, and used only in accordance with the applicable law. We will uphold a clear differentiation of roles between processes that can be automated and those that require ongoing human insight, monitoring, and discretion, ensuring they operate in close collaboration. At the global level, these approaches can be further promoted through the sharing of practical experiences and examples that illustrate tangible gains in early threat detection across traditional banking, fintech, and other relevant sectors.

National PPPs have demonstrated clear value in improving the quality of reports sent by obliged entities to FIUs, and increasing the number of comprehensive and better actionable operational intelligence produced by FIUs leading to increased use of intelligence by law enforcement agencies. While strengthening them further and utilizing cross-border best practices, the focus could turn into fostering seamless international coordination. Rather than pursuing a single one-size-fits-all model, we favor risk-based approaches and thematic cross-border PPPs focused on specific, shared risks.

We will look to intensify our partnerships with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Financial Action Task Force-Style Regional Bodies (FSRBs), and other key global actors to establish harmonized PPP approaches for intelligence sharing and enhanced effectiveness. Targeted collaborative efforts are needed in high-priority areas including, but not limited to environmental crime, fraud, virtual assets, trade-based money laundering, and corruption.

Long-term success of PPPs depends on sustained investment from every participant.  Strengthened engagement among all AML/CFT stakeholders and exploring opportunities to also include non-traditional partners, while respecting the operational independence and autonomy of FIUs and national legal frameworks, can help create conditions for adequate organizational, financial, technological and human resources available to PPPs. FIU leadership is central to driving and championing these efforts. To demonstrate impact and sustain investment, PPPs should adopt practical, outcome-based indicators and tangible disruption outcomes that can be clearly communicated to senior decision-makers and policymakers.

We agree that where established, PPPs, as a best practice, should be integrated within national AML/CFT strategies, while retaining their flexibility through governance structures that ensure ongoing financial support, sustainable institutionalization, and collaborative leadership.

The current Statement aims to provide a clear path forward for action. The Egmont Group will collaborate closely with international and regional bodies, non-profit organizations, private sector partners and stakeholder coalitions to put these objectives into practice. We call on all involved parties to help construct the evolution of PPPs: fortified to safeguard personal data; decisive in proactive intervention; and expansive enough to confront threats of global magnitude.

Together, we will turn shared intelligence into faster detection and stronger action, focusing on the most serious crimes. By adopting a risk-based approach, we will strengthen prevention, enhance asset recovery, and enable more effective disruption of crime where it matters the most.

[1] Public-Private Partnership is a standing mechanism that enables effective information sharing, collaboration, cooperation and/or coordination between government authorities with a role in AML/CFT/CPF and the private sector, through which the partners jointly work to detect, understand, and/or disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing, and associated predicate offences, by means that go beyond the discharge of the statutory, one-directional reporting obligation.