New Delhi [India], April 16 : In a bid to curb money laundering and financial crimes, the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen intelligence sharing, coordinate enforcement, and upgrade Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) capabilities across market entities, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday.
The MoU was signed by Amit Mohan Govil, Director, FIU-IND, and Sandip Pradhan, Whole Time Member, SEBI marking a new era of collaborative intelligence sharing between the two agencies at the forefront of India's fight against money laundering and financial crimes, according to the press release.
"The collaboration will involve sharing relevant intelligence and information available in their respective databases, and laying down the procedures and modalities for reporting by regulated entities and reporting entities to FIU-IND under the provisions of the PML Rules," the Ministry said in its press release.
The MoU shall also assist in the exchange of information with foreign FIUs through the Egmont Principles of Information Exchange.
The MoU aims to enable both agencies to undertake outreach and training programmes for regulated/reporting entities, with a focus on upgrading Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) capabilities among entities regulated by the SEBI. Further, both parties shall ensure alignment with applicable international standards and hold quarterly meetings to exchange information and deliberate on issues of mutual interest.
The cooperation will also include assessment of Money Laundering and Terror Financing (ML/TF) risks and vulnerabilities across relevant financial sub-sectors, identification and dissemination of red flag indicators for suspicious transactions, and supervision and monitoring of compliance by reporting entities with obligations under the PMLA, PML Rules, and SEBI guidelines.
FIU-IND is the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing, and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions and coordinating efforts against money laundering and financing of terrorism.