Attorney-General Graham Leung presented the 2023 Annual Report of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to Parliament on Monday. Acting Director of FIU Esther Sue described 2023 as a challenging year, noting that evolving trends in financial crime and the priorities of law enforcement agencies led to an increased demand for the FIU’s intelligence and expertise.
Sue emphasized that the FIU, as an intelligence agency, has a responsibility to proactively share financial intelligence with law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of serious financial crimes. Additionally, the FIU assists these agencies in tracing and restraining illicit proceeds.
Throughout 2023, the FIU delivered a total of 429 intelligence reports to law enforcement bodies, regulatory authorities, and government ministries. Many of these reports were generated from suspicious transaction reports submitted by various financial institutions in Fiji.
The FIU also completed a comprehensive assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks specific to Fiji’s banking sector. The resulting report is now available for public access on the FIU website.
“As a regulator, the FIU aims to ensure that financial institutions in Fiji maintain robust internal systems and controls to reduce the risk of misuse for money laundering, terrorism financing, and other serious financial crimes,” Sue stated.
In 2023, the FIU implemented risk-based supervision of financial institutions, which included non-financial sectors like legal services, real estate, and accounting. This involved both onsite assessments of compliance among various entities and ongoing offsite monitoring to ensure adherence to anti-money laundering regulations. The risk-based approach allows the FIU to effectively allocate resources to higher-risk entities amid the vast number of institutions under its supervision.
To encourage advancements in digital payment systems, the FIU issued new guidelines aimed at outlining requirements and guidance for financial institutions regarding the use of digital identity systems for customer verification processes like eKYC.
The Acting Director of the FIU acknowledged the valuable support from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, which funds the FIU, as well as the contributions from all financial institutions and partner law enforcement agencies that have enhanced the FIU’s efforts and accomplishments throughout 2023.