International financial intelligence units discuss virtual assets

On February 16, 2020, fifty senior officials and experts of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from FATF countries and the Egmont Group1 Secretariat met in Paris to discuss the international ramifications of virtual assets from FIUs’ perspectives. Ms. Lucie Castets, Head of International Affairs Department of France’s FIU, the Traitement du renseignement et action contre les circuits financiers clandestins (Tracfin), hosted the meeting. Mr. Kenneth A. Blanco, Director of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the FIU of the United States, Mr. Marko Stolle, Deputy Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit Germany, and Ms. Lucie Castets co-chaired the meeting. Virtual asset experts from the FIUs of France, the United States, and Israel offered detailed presentations. Among other topics, attendees discussed cryptocurrency business models, money laundering and terrorist finance risks, illicit typologies, and the role of FIUs in tracing virtual assets.

• Tracfin press release