FIU-Nederland neemt deel aan de “Russia Related Illicit Finance and Sanctions FIU Working Group”. De participerende FIU’s in dit initiatief zijn Australië, Canada, Frankrijk, Duitsland, Italië, Japan, Nederland, Nieuw-Zeeland, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en de Verenigde Staten van Amerika.

Op initiatief van FINCEN, de FIU van de Verenigde Staten, heeft een aantal FIU’s besloten om de handen ineen te slaan en hun internationale samenwerking te verstevigen op alle aspecten die te maken hebben met de huidige sancties tegen Russische en Belarussische entiteiten en individuen. Ook mogelijke witwasactiviteiten zullen nadrukkelijk aandacht krijgen.

Deze werkgroep werkt op basis van de Taskforce die de overheden van deze landen en de EU hebben gevormd om in gezamenlijkheid de naleving van de sanctiemaatregelen te bevorderen en eraan bij te dragen dat deze een zo groot mogelijke impact hebben. 

Het Statement of Intent hieronder is de basis van de samenwerking van de FIU’s. Op korte termijn zal gestart worden met de coördinatie van de concrete activiteiten die deze FIU’s op dit moment al uitvoeren en zal er kennis en ervaring worden uitgewisseld.

De sanctiemaatregelen zijn een antwoord van de internationale gemeenschap op een door Rusland gestarte ongerechtvaardigde en onwettige oorlog die de internationale orde aantast.
Onder meer door te participeren in deze FIU Werkgroep wil FIU-Nederland maximaal bijdragen aan het realiseren van de doelstellingen van de sancties.

RUSSIA-RELATED ILLICIT FINANCE AND SANCTIONS FIU WORKING GROUP

Statement of Intent

We, the Financial Intelligence Units of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, referred to herein as
Working Group Members issue this statement of intent:

Recalling statements made by governments around the world, including Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America,
and the High Representative of the European Union, condemning Russia’s unprovoked and
unjustifiable war of choice against Ukraine, enabled by the Belarussian government (“the threat”);

Recognizing that the respective governments of the Working Group Members and the European
Union have imposed several rounds of far-reaching economic and financial sanctions, and
committed to imposing further sanctions in response to the threat;

Further recognizing that the governments of several Working Group Members and the European
Commission, consistent with their respective legal frameworks, have agreed to establish an
international task force to coordinate efforts related to sanctions and asset recovery;

Underscoring the need for FIUs to cooperate with law enforcement, prosecutors, other
competent authorities, and the private sector, within the legal framework of the respective FIUs,
to achieve the goals of the international task force and more generally to combat the associated
illicit activities including money laundering, sanctions evasion, cyber threats, and corruption;

Stressing the importance of the role of Financial Intelligence Units in the collection, sharing,
analysis, dissemination, and use of financial intelligence to address money laundering and the
financing of terrorist activities, and

Recalling that, under the current international, EU and national legal frameworks, FIUs do not
have a uniform and comprehensive legal basis and mandate to receive, analyse and share
information on financial sanctions and related measures;

Affirm the need to identify concrete actions that participating Working Group Members, within
their respective legal framework, can take individually or collectively to

   1. Enhance financial intelligence on sanction-related matters and associated financial
   flows and economic activities;

   2. Expedite and increase sharing of financial intelligence in sanction-related matters and
   associated financial flows and economic activities;

   3. Engage in discussions concerning FIU best practices, lessons learned, and
   opportunities for actions and partnerships to combat the threat; and

   4. Strengthen and facilitate working relationships between FIUs and competent public
   authorities and the private sector addressing the threat, including by engaging with task
   forces established by governments of the Working Group Members.