Council Decision 2000/642/JHA of 17 October 2000 concerning arrangements for cooperation between financial intelligence units of the Member States in respect of exchanging information

All Member States have set up financial intelligence units (FIUs) to collect and analyse information received under the provisions of Directive 91/308/EEC with the aim of establishing links between suspicious financial transactions and underlying criminal activity in order to prevent and to combat money laundering.

Improvement of the mechanisms for exchanging information between the FIUs is one of the objectives recognised by the Money Laundering Experts' Group set up within the Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime, along with an improvement in the exchange of information between FIUs and the investigating authorities in Member States and in the multidisciplinary organisation of FIUs, to incorporate knowledge of the financial, law enforcement and judicial sectors.

It is necessary that close cooperation take place between the relevant authorities of the Member States involved in the fight against money laundering and that provision be made for direct communication between those authorities.