Interpol has launched the Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) to provide a coordinated global response against what it describes as the exponential growth in transnational financial crime.

The world police body says it will adopt a multi-agency approach, working closely with key stakeholders to strengthen collective efforts against financial crime and corruption.

Stakeholders include the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and its associated regional bodies, the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, law enforcement agencies, police organisations and the financial sector.

Action on the ground

By providing investigative, operational and analytical support, as well as capacity building, IFCACC will target fraud and payment crime, money laundering and asset recovery, and corruption.

The new centre will also coordinate activities Interpol has codenamed Haechi operations that target cyber-enabled financial crime. Operation Haechi II saw Interpol officials pilot test a new global stop-payment mechanism that enables member countries to submit and handle requests to follow, intercept or provisionally freeze illegal proceeds of crime.

Project support

Interpol estimates that less than one per cent of criminal funds flowing through the international financial system are currently intercepted by law enforcement.

The new centre will also lend its expertise to other Interpol projects covering crime areas with a corruption or financial crime component, such as human trafficking or environmental crime.

Further details on and links to additional material on Interpol’s IFCACC can be found here.

Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News

Tags: Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, FATF, Financial crime, IFCACC, Interpol, transnational financial crime