The 2025 Handbook on International Cooperation against Money Laundering from FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL, and UNODC

The 2025 joint guidance from FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL, and UNODC

• Is a practical resource that equips financial intelligence units, law enforcement, and prosecutors with the tools they need to cooperate more effectively across borders
• Promotes informal cooperation and offering actionable guidance, it helps authorities accelerate investigations, recover illicit assets, and bring more criminals to justice

The 2025 joint guidance from FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL, and UNODC introduces a transformative approach to international cooperation in fighting money laundering and financial crime.

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Egmont Group, INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), are calling for stronger global collaboration among analysts, investigators, prosecutors and others as they launch a practical Handbook on International Cooperation against Money Laundering, providing essential tools to help countries speed up investigations and bring more criminals to justice.
• Money laundering almost always crosses borders, and criminals exploit gaps between national legal systems to hide their activities and avoid punishment.
• Yet FATF evaluations consistently show that investigating, prosecuting and sanctioning money laundering remains one of the weakest areas worldwide. Without more effective cooperation, countries cannot stop financial crime in its tracks.
• FATF President, Elisa de Anda Madrazo, said: “An international threat requires an international response. A victim can often be on the other side of the world to the criminals that are destroying their lives or livelihoods, so we need to see countries working more effectively together and multiplying our defences to keep people safe, bring more criminals to justice and recover ill-got gains.”

Speeding up investigations

• The handbook responds to the globalisation of financial systems and rapid technological advancements, which demand faster intelligence and action to keep pace with criminals.
• It therefore promotes informal cooperation, such as secure communication channels, rapid response mechanisms and joint analysis, which can provide faster, more flexible, and targeted investigations, complementing formal, usually legal processes, which are often slower and procedurally complex.

Here's a breakdown of the key principles and tools outlined in their newly released Handbook on International Cooperation against Money Laundering

Three practical guides accompany the handbook

• For FIUs
• For Law Enforcement Agencies
• For Prosecutors

Core Principles: Speed + Trust + Smart Tech

1. Speed:
• Emphasis on rapid response mechanisms and real-time coordination to outpace criminal networks.
• Informal cooperation is encouraged to bypass delays in formal legal processes.
2. Trust:
• Building secure multilateral networks among Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), law enforcement, and prosecutors.
• Promoting joint analysis pilots to foster collaboration and confidence.
3. Smart Technology:
• Leveraging secure communication channels and data-sharing platforms to enable faster, targeted investigations.
• Use of tech to trace digital assets like cryptocurrency in cross-border cases.

Recommended Practices

• Start with informal channels: Use secure, trusted networks to sharpen requests before formalising them.
• Joint analysis pilots: Run collaborative investigations early to detect cross-border laundering schemes.
• Domestic coordination is non-negotiable: National agencies must align internally before engaging internationally.

Real-World Case Studies

• Italy, Spain, Netherlands: €95M laundering scheme uncovered via joint FIU analysis.
• Australia (Operation AVARUS-X): Billions in AUD laundered through money service businesses dismantled with U.S. support.
• U.S.–India: Real-time crypto asset seizure worth \$150M linked to drug trafficking.
• Singapore–South Africa: Rhino horn trafficking convictions secured through INTERPOL-backed evidence sharing.

References

FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and UNODC call for stronger cooperation ... https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/news/2025/September/fatf--egmont-group--interpol-and-unodc-call-for-stronger-cooperation-between-countries-as-they-launch-handbook-to-fight-money-laundering.html

FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and UNODC call for stronger co-operation ... https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Methodsandtrends/international-cooperation-against-money-laundering.html

NEWS: FATF, Egmont Group, INTERPOL and UNDOC release new AML handbook https://www.amlintelligence.com/2025/09/news-fatf-egmont-group-interpol-and-undoc-release-new-aml-handbook/