FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and UNODC ¦ Call for stronger Co-operation between Countries

International Co-operation on Money Laundering: Making Informal Channels Work for Faster, Smarter Outcomes

The FATF/Egmont/INTERPOL/UNODC handbook (2025) emphasises that tackling contemporary money laundering requires a calibrated mix of informal and formal international cooperation. Informal channels — FIU platforms, INTERPOL and Europol networks, liaison officers, and regional prosecutorial groups — offer speed, secure communication, and operational governance that help detect cross‑border laundering, validate nexus, and identify assets or witnesses before initiating slower mutual legal assistance processes. High‑quality, targeted requests, standardised templates, two‑phase responses, and feedback mechanisms raise the value of exchanges and preserve scarce resources.

As investigators move from detection to investigation and prosecution, informal cooperation should be used to sharpen formal requests, confirm whether coercive powers will be needed, and prepare admissible evidence. Joint analysis and joint investigations are powerful when participants agree early on objectives, roles, data handling, and legal safeguards; they also depend on trust, domestic coordination, and sufficient resourcing. Investing in secure digital tools, privacy‑preserving matching, and institutional frameworks that protect confidentiality and ensure reciprocity will increase the speed and effectiveness of cross‑border AML operations.

Why informal cooperation matters for modern money‑laundering investigations

The FATF/Egmont/INTERPOL/UNODC 2025 handbook on International Co‑operation on Money Laundering, Detection, Investigation, and Prosecution makes clear that the modern money‑laundering threat is faster, more digital, and more transnational than ever. Formal tools such as mutual legal assistance and extradition remain essential when courts, coercive powers, or seizure are required. But they are slow and procedural by design. Informal channels — FIU networks, police contact points, regional prosecutorial networks, liaison officers, and operational task forces — provide the speed, agility, and flexibility investigators need to detect, refine, and prioritise cases before spending time and resources on formal requests. The handbook shows how effective results depend on combining informal and formal mechanisms coherently, sequencing informal inquiries to validate nexus and identify key targets, then using formal processes when legally required to secure evidence and judicial outcomes.

Bastian Schwind-Wagner_Follow "Informal international cooperation — when governed by clear rules, secure platforms, and well‑scoped, targeted requests — gives investigators the speed and precision needed to turn global, digital money‑laundering leads into actionable cases and well‑drafted formal requests that deliver admissible evidence and successful prosecutions."

Characteristics, opportunities, and limits of informal channels

Informal cooperation is characterised by speed, flexibility, and the potential to focus enquiries quickly on materially useful leads. Multi‑lateral platforms (Egmont Secure Web, FIU.net, INTERPOL I‑24/7, Europol SIENA) provide secure communication, governance rules, and single points of contact that help practitioners identify the right partner and protect sensitive information. Bilateral relationships and liaison officers deepen trust and reduce friction. Diagonal cooperation — exchanges between non‑counterpart agencies across borders — widens the information base but raises legal and confidentiality issues that must be managed carefully, preferably via FIU‑to‑FIU or other trusted channels. Joint analysis and joint investigations offer the greatest value when jurisdictions pool expertise, share common terms of reference, and commit resources, but they require explicit agreements on roles, handling of sensitive data, and safeguards for admissibility.

Practical practices that raise success rates

High‑quality, targeted requests make the difference. Requests should state the investigative objective, describe the facts and the nexus to the recipient jurisdiction, and identify precisely what is sought and why. Two‑phase responses (quick internal checks followed by deeper, coordinated requests for external records) speed outcomes while maintaining quality. Standardised templates and common data formats reduce ambiguity, while secure handling codes and prior‑consent rules preserve confidentiality and trust. Domestic coordination is indispensable: jurisdictions must ensure competent authorities understand each other’s remits, that there are clear single points of contact and SOPs for international work, and that resources and training support increased digital evidence needs. Digital tools — hashing, privacy‑preserving matching, automated interfaces between FIU systems, and secure platforms — amplify capacity but require governance and interoperability.

From detection to prosecution: sequencing informal and formal steps

Informal channels are best used early to validate leads, identify accounts, assets, and witnesses, and to assess whether a formal Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) or extradition request is necessary and how to draft it to meet the receiving state’s legal thresholds. Informal contact with prosecutors, liaison magistrates, or dedicated central authorities helps align formats, avoid procedural gaps, and reduce the risk of rejected MLA requests. Rapid response mechanisms (INTERPOL I‑GRIP, Egmont rapid tracing) can halt dissipation of proceeds; joint analysis and operational task forces can yield cross‑border arrests, asset freezes, and stronger prosecutions when backed by common terms of reference and trusted working relationships.

Key risks and how to mitigate them

The main obstacles are mismatched legal powers, resource constraints, data volume, language and terminology differences, and confidentiality breaches. Practical mitigations include: mapping partners’ capabilities (for example using the Egmont Biennial Census or SHERLOC directories), investing in secure platforms and privacy‑enhancing tech, using structured templates and SOPs, implementing feedback loops to show utility of shared information, and ensuring FIUs retain operational independence and clear legal authorities. Trust is built through repeated, useful exchanges and through regional, lower‑sensitivity collaboration that can evolve into operational joint work.

Dive deeper

• FATF ¦ FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and UNODC call for stronger co-operation between countries as they launch handbook to fight money laundering ¦ Link

Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For FIUs

This brochure provides Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) practitioners and partner organisations with a forward-looking, step-by-step guide to enhancing informal international intelligence exchange (both operational and strategic), integrating emerging technologies, and ensuring compliance with global best practices.

Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For LEAs

This brochure seeks to:

• Provide guidance to law enforcement on international co-operation tools and mechanisms.
• Focus on detecting, investigating, and prosecuting transnational money laundering cases.
• Aim to strengthen understanding of law enforcement’s role in each phase of the process.
• Encourage improved domestic coordination.
• Promote diagonal co-operation and/or joint investigations across jurisdictions.

Informal International Co-operation Brochure - For Prosecutors

This brochure is intended to help central authorities in charge of Mutual legal assistance (MLA) including prosecutors harness informal international co-operation to exchange intelligence quickly and effectively in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) matters.