The Egmont Group Explained: How Financial Intelligence Units Cooperate

When an accountant files a suspicious activity report, it goes to a national body called a financial intelligence unit, or FIU. FIUs in different countries cooperate through an international organisation called the Egmont Group, which most AML guides mention only in passing, if at all. This guide explains what the Egmont Group is, what its charter says about membership and information exchange, and what that means in practice for a firm that reports suspicions. It is based on the revised Egmont Group Charter (November 2025) and the Group's own website. We have not counted members, because the pages we read did not state a current figure.

What the Egmont Group is

The Charter's preamble describes the Group as having been established as "an informal forum for FIUs worldwide", with its first gathering on 9 June 1995. The Egmont website describes it as a membership-based international organisation that does not solicit public funds, and says it facilitates the exchange of information, knowledge and cooperation among member FIUs. Its Charter dates from 2007, was approved in its current form in July 2013, and was revised and endorsed out of session in November 2025.

The Charter commits the Group to developing FIUs, to cooperation among them in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, to an information exchange network built on shared principles, and to a secure IT system and to training, workshops and personnel exchanges.

How the Charter defines an FIU

Section 1.1 of the Charter follows Recommendation 29 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). An FIU is a national centre for the receipt and analysis of suspicious transaction reports and other relevant information, which then disseminates the results of that analysis. The Charter makes the FATF's interpretive note (Appendix A) and a set of 18 requirements for operational independence and autonomy (Appendix B) binding in the same way as the definition. For the standards behind this, see our guide to the FATF recommendations.

Who can be a member

Under section 4.1, members are the FIUs recognised as such by the Heads of FIU. An applicant must meet the FIU definition, have full operational status, and have the willingness and legal capability to exchange information with all counterpart FIUs. Members must exchange information, endorse the Group's Operational Guidance, contribute to the budget, complete a census and support the secure web. In return, they can take part in plenary and working group activities and access the secure web. Observers, who are governmental or intergovernmental non-profit partners meeting six eligibility criteria, have no decision-making rights.

Every member also belongs to a regional group (section 6.5), and the Heads of FIU, which the Charter calls the governing body, decide on accepting, suspending and expelling members. Significant non-compliance goes through the Egmont Group Support and Compliance Process.

The three principles of information exchange

Section 3.1 says members cooperate on the basis of reciprocity or mutual agreement, following three principles:

1. Use for analysis: "free exchange of information for purposes of analysis at FIU level";
2. Consent: "no dissemination or use of the information for any other purpose without prior consent of the providing FIU";
3. Confidentiality: protection of the confidentiality of the information.

All members commit to these principles.

The Egmont Secure Web

The Charter describes the Egmont Secure Web (ESW) as an electronic collaboration system owned by all Egmont Group members, with a board that includes the Executive Secretary. The Chair may suspend a member's access if it is substantiated that the member poses a security threat. The Charter does not describe how an individual report is routed through the system, so we do not describe it either.

What this means when you report

The Egmont Group sets rules for cooperation between FIUs. It does not change your own reporting duties, which come from national law and your supervisor. A few practical points follow from the Charter, offered as our reading rather than as legal advice:

• A report you file may, in principle, support analysis by the receiving FIU that involves counterparts abroad, subject to the consent and confidentiality principles. The Charter limits onward use without the providing FIU's consent.
• The tipping-off rules in your country still apply. Nothing in the Egmont Charter removes them. See, for example, our guide to SARs and tipping off.
• Membership means the FIU has been recognised as meeting the FATF definition and the Charter's operational independence requirements, not that every reporting system works the same way. The UK's process is explained in our SAR Portal guide, while Pakistan's reporting line is covered in our Pakistan guide.

What we could not confirm

• The current number of member FIUs, which the pages we read did not state.
• The text of the Operational Guidance and the Support and Compliance Process, which we did not read.
• Which FIU is a member in each country mentioned in our other guides.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Egmont Group a regulator?

No. The Charter describes it as an informal forum, and its rules govern cooperation among FIUs rather than the duties of reporting firms.

Can an FIU share my report with a foreign FIU without limits?

The Charter says information may not be disseminated or used for another purpose without the prior consent of the FIU that provided it, and that confidentiality must be protected.

Does my firm need to join the Egmont Group?

No. Membership is for FIUs recognised by the Heads of FIU, not for reporting firms.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.