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Top anti-money laundering (AML) experts from across the European Union gathered at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague for the 25th plenary of the Europol Financial Intelligence Public Private Partnership (EFIPPP).
The event marked a major milestone for the initiative, culminating in the announcement of a new AML-focused workstream to launch in 2025.
The EFIPPP, a collaborative platform bringing together investigative services, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), and banking institutions, aims to strengthen public-private partnerships in combating financial crime. The upcoming workstream will specifically address the role of professional enablers such as lawyers, real estate brokers, and accountants in facilitating money laundering activities.
“This workstream will focus on professional enablers, such as lawyers, real estate brokers, and accountants who help, knowingly or not, to move illicit funds into legitimate systems,” Europol said. “The workstream will begin operating in 2025, based on insights shared by expert speakers during the event.”
Catherine De Bolle, Europol’s Executive Director, reflected on the initiative’s evolution, expressing pride in its progress.“The project started with just a handful of partners sharing concerns and expertise and gradually grew to become the fully-fledged public-private partnership we know today; an innovative and dynamic platform allowing public and private partners to work together in building a common intelligence picture of financial crime threats and terrorist financing,” she said.
Wim Mijs, CEO of the European Banking Federation, emphasized the growth of EFIPPP as a “groundbreaking alliance” that now includes 96 institutions from 27 jurisdictions.“This remarkable expansion highlights the increasing recognition across sectors of the necessity and shared desire to work hand in hand to combat financial crime,” he said.
Eric van der Schild, chair of the EFIPPP steering group, described the plenary as a milestone event for the initiative.“EFIPPP is a member-driven community that tries to make our financial landscape safer and the work for criminals more difficult from different angles and insights,” he said. “It is great to see and experience how we have developed in recent years and continue to respond agilely to threats that come our way. There is so much more potential – which we will continue to explore.”
Among the participants was FIU Deutschland, Germany’s primary AML body. Dr. Frank Haberstroh, Head of Strategic Analysis at FIU Germany, led discussions on the “Trafficking in Human Beings” workstream during the event.“Committee work is a central part of EFIPPP’s quarterly plenary session,” FIU Deutschland stated. “Representatives from FIUs, law enforcement agencies, and the private sector come together to jointly counteract financial crime. The focus is on strategic approaches to the exchange and analysis of financial flows that contribute to the fight against transnational crimes such as human trafficking.”
Anton Brönnimann, head of the money laundering reporting office at FIU Switzerland, highlighted the plenary’s focus on professional enablers in a LinkedIn post.“The role of lawyers, real estate agents and other service providers as facilitators in money laundering, circumvention of sanctions and corruption was in the focus,” Brönnimann wrote. “From the (simple) misuse of these services to crime as a service. One of the takeaways – an ongoing risk dialog with the affected industries is needed here!”
The EFIPPP plenary underscores the collaborative efforts across Europe to address financial crime. With its latest initiatives, the partnership continues to strengthen its response to evolving threats, ensuring that both public and private sectors remain aligned in their fight against money laundering and related crimes.
By fLEXI tEAM
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