Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units is an international network of national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), founded in 1995 at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. It facilitates secure, multilateral exchange of financial intelligence to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and related financial crimes.

• Members: 181 national FIUs from all world regions (as of July 2025).
• Core function: Secure information exchange via the Egmont Secure Web (ESW).
• Operational goal: Supporting national FIUs in analysing suspicious transactions with international dimensions.
• Governance: Annual plenary meetings, four working groups (IEWG, MSCWG, PPWG, TATWG), eight regional groups, and ECOFEL.

On the joint initiative of Belgium's CTIF-CFI and the US FinCEN, representatives of 13 FIUs met for the first time in 1995 at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. The informal cooperation was gradually formalised: the Egmont Charter was adopted in 2007 in Hamilton (Bermuda) and a permanent secretariat was established in Canada. The secretariat began operations in Toronto in 2008 and was later relocated to Ottawa. In 2009, the Principles for Information Exchange were adopted. The Charter was formally approved in 2013, and revised in 2018 and July 2023. Since the 2000s, membership has grown from the initial 13 to 181 FIUs (as of July 2025). The introduction of the Egmont Secure Web (ESW) enabled encrypted, multilateral real-time information exchange. The Egmont Group works closely with FATF, the UN, and other international organisations.

The Egmont Group is directed at national FIUs as institutional members. Its activities include:

• Secure exchange of financial intelligence between member FIUs
• Capacity building and training for FIUs in developing countries
• Development of common operational standards and best practices
• Liaison with FATF, the UN Security Council, and other international organisations
• Technical assistance for new member FIUs

• Member FIUs must be operationally independent and protected from political interference.
• Information exchange limited to AML/CFT purposes; strict confidentiality rules apply.
• FIUs must be able to respond promptly to requests from other member FIUs.
• Use of the Egmont Secure Web (ESW) for secure data transfer.
• Regular participation in plenary meetings and working groups.

3 corrections:
- Secretariat was never in Singapore — LLM hallucination
- Charter adopted 2007, not MoU 2007 + charter 2009
- Incorrect number of founding FIUs (9 instead of 13)
2 updates:
- Membership count outdated: 181 instead of 'over 170'
- last_amended date imprecise and outdated
3 clarifications.
3 notes.