Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is a stand-alone government agency where suspicious transactions from Financial Institutions and other companies must be reported.

Unusual transactions are transactions which do not fit the client profile, and must be reported to the FIU.

The Egmont Group is a group of international FIUs that cooperate without any government intervention.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is a group that countries must adhere to, and they regularly monitor each other to ensure compliance with FATF recommendations.

The Netherlands is the only country that requires reportable companies to report suspicious transactions to the FIU.

The FIU analyzes transactions to determine if they are suspicious, and if deemed suspicious, this information can then be disseminated to various entities, including the police, national prosecutors, or even other international FIUs.

Countries on a gray or black list may suffer economic consequences as a result.

The GO AML portal is used by all FIUs around the world to report financial transactions.

If a report is rejected by the FIU, the financial institution is still seen as in violation of the anti-money laundering act.

The FIU automatically analyzes the report and matches it with the police system and the Central Judicial Collection Agency.

The National Public Prosecutor can only request information from the FIU after a police investigation has been completed.

The FIU always receives a Dissemination notification within 14 days of a suspicious transaction report.

The FIU's own investigation is the final step in the process of analyzing a suspicious transaction report.

The Central Judicial Collection Agency can only initiate further pursuit to collect money if the police have a claim that a criminal owes a lot of money.

The FIU only shares information with the police and the Central Judicial Collection Agency.

If a financial institution does not receive a Confirmation of Receipt from the FIU, they do not need to take any further action.