Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units

In 1995, a number of national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) began working together in an informal organization known as the Egmont Group (named after the location of the first meeting in the Egmont-Arenberg Palace in Brussels, Belgium). The goal of the group is to provide a forum for FIUs to improve support to their respective national anti-money laundering programs and develop protocols for the sharing of information. This support includes expanding and systematizing the exchange of financial intelligence, improving expertise and capabilities of the personnel of such organizations, and fostering better communication among FIUs through the application of new technologies and the sharing of information for use in financial crimes investigations. As of November 2006, there were 100 FIUs in the Egmont Group.