Moldova to strengthen cooperation in combating money laundering

The Government approved the bill on Moldova’s joining of the Statutes of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs). The Egmont Group is an international network designed to improve interaction among FIUs in the areas of communications, information sharing and training coordination in the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes, Info-Prim Neo reports. Egmont has 108 members. Moldova became a fully-fledged member of the Egmont Group on May 27, 2008, through the agency of the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime. 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. 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. Moldova was helped to meet the required standards by the MOLICO project financed by the European Commission, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Council of Europe. The project has been completed this summer. The Egmont Group assists in expanding and systematizing the exchange of financial intelligence information, improving expertise and capabilities of personnel employed by FIUs, and fostering better and more secure communication among FIUs through the application of technology. The Egmont Group membership dues include a basic contribution and an additional sum calculated according to the size of the GDP of a given county. For this year, Moldova must pay 24,200 lei in dues.