Financial Crime World

Title: Belgium’s Fight Against Financial Crimes: A Status Report from FATF

Introduction

Belgium’s efforts in the global fight against financial crimes, such as money laundering and terrorist financing, have shown significant progress but still face challenges. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international organization setting standards for combating financial crimes, recently published a report evaluating the current state of Belgium’s legal systems and operational issues.

  • Praised powers and framework: The FATF acknowledged the Belgian law enforcement authorities’ adequate legal framework and ample powers to address financial crimes. (Source)
  • Structural issues: Despite these advantages, the insufficient resources in the Belgian judicial authorities hinder their effectiveness. (Source)

The Role of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Belgium

The FIU, CTIF, plays a significant role in Belgium’s AML efforts:

  1. Broad access to useful AML information: FIU enjoys extensive access to AML-related data.
  2. Analysis and investigations: FIU systematically explores the data and produces high-quality operational and strategic analyses.
  3. Triggering criminal investigations: FIU’s analyses can initiate criminal investigations. (Source)

areas for improvement

Despite the progress, the following areas require improvement:

  1. Limited follow-up on cross-border currency declarations: The system for detecting cross-border currency movements within Belgium functions well, but the lack of resources hinders proper follow-up, prosecution, or confiscation in response to the identified risks. (Source)
  2. Effectiveness of criminal sanctions: The criminal sanctions in Belgium are considered satisfactory by the FATF, but the lack of resources in law enforcement weakens their impact. (Source)
  3. Application of ML laws to legal persons: Challenges arise in applying ML laws to legal persons in Belgium. (Source)

ML Strategy and Prosecutions in Belgium

  • Good awareness and understanding: Belgian judicial authorities have a solid awareness and understanding of ML risks.
  • Lack of a clear overall strategy: There is no clear overall strategy for tackling ML at a national level in Belgium.
  • Focus on predicate offenses: Prosecutions mainly focus on predicate offenses, resulting in fewer cases against third-party ML. (Source)

Conclusion and Next Steps

Belgium’s financial crime prevention measures are undergoing continuous improvement, with the FATF report serving as a valuable tool in guiding these efforts and maintaining the security of Belgium’s financial system.

References: [1]: Article link for reference [2]: FATF Fourth Round Mutual Evaluation Report on Belgium

[#footnote-1]: Text referring to the FATF’s praises for Belgian law enforcement authorities. [#footnote-2]: Text discussing the resource insufficiencies in the Belgian judicial authorities. [#footnote-3]: Information about the FIU’s performance and role. [#footnote-4]: Description of current operation of cross-border currency movements and future improvements. [#footnote-5]: Evaluation of criminal sanctions in Belgium. [#footnote-6]: Challenges in applying ML laws to legal persons. [#footnote-7]: Information on ML strategy and prosecutions in Belgium.