Attorney-General Graham Leung presented the 2023 Annual Report of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Parliament on Monday. Acting Director of FIU, Esther Sue, remarked that the past year was particularly challenging due to newly emerging financial crime trends and the heightened priorities of law enforcement, leading to an increased demand for the FIU’s financial intelligence and expertise.
Sue emphasized the FIU’s role as an intelligence agency, stating that they must actively share financial intelligence with law enforcement for the investigation and prosecution of significant financial crimes. The unit also assists law enforcement in tracing and freezing the proceeds of criminal activities.
In 2023, the FIU distributed a total of 429 intelligence reports to law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and government ministries. Many of these reports were generated from suspicious transaction reports submitted by various financial institutions across Fiji.
Furthermore, the FIU completed a risk assessment regarding money laundering and terrorist financing threats within Fiji’s banking sector. This assessment report has been published and is available on the FIU website.
“As a regulator, the FIU aims to ensure that financial institutions in Fiji have robust internal systems to prevent their services and products from being exploited for money laundering, terrorist financing, and other serious financial crimes,” Sue stated.
In addition to its ongoing work, the FIU implemented risk-based supervision of not only financial institutions but also non-financial businesses, including legal professionals, real estate agents, and accountants. On-site evaluations were carried out at several real estate agencies and legal practices to examine their adherence to anti-money laundering requirements, complemented by offsite monitoring of various institutions.
The FIU adopted a risk-based supervision strategy, allowing them to allocate compliance resources effectively to higher-risk entities among the vast array of institutions they oversee. In support of digital advancements in payment systems, the FIU introduced a new guideline to offer financial institutions further directives on implementing digital ID systems for customer due diligence, or electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC).
The Acting Director of the FIU expressed gratitude for the robust support received from the Reserve Bank of Fiji, which funds the FIU, as well as from all financial institutions and partner law enforcement agencies for their contributions towards the FIU’s activities and successes in 2023.