The Financial Information Processing Unit (CFI) is the Belgian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to which all reporting agents report suspicious transactions or cases that they suspect they are dealing with money laundering or terrorist financing. A similar FIU exists in all countries that comply with the Financial Action Task Force (GAFI) rules. Between these FIFGs, Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) usually consists of exchanging the data of suspicious transactions.
The CFI was established by Royal Decree of 11 June 1993 as a result of the Act of 11 January 1993 preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The CFI publishes an annual report with all kinds of statistics and case law.
The CFI is an administrative body that acts as a buffer between the reporting officers and the Court of First Instance and the police. The financial world (and especially the banks) do not want to be considered a tipper and therefore do not want to report directly to the police. Clearly, all CFI staff are bound by strict professional secrecy, which means that they may never disclose (except, if any) judicial information that they hear from their work at the CFI. There is thus one-way traffic: the CFI can retrieve all information, the police can not request anything from the CFI. There are some members of the Federal Police working as 'liaison officer' between the CFI and the police. They are also covered by (additional) professional secrecy that applies to all CFI members and employees. Their task mainly consists in 'guiding' the CFI information gathering. Finally, since 2008, a senior federal police officer has been a member of the CFI.
In order to check that the reported transactions are within a money laundering or terrorist financing system, the CFI may provide all reporting agents (financial sector and consultants), administrative (Federal Public Services) and judicial authorities (police and parquet) and foreign FIU information.
In other countries, FIUs are sometimes also administrative authorities, sometimes mixed (administrative and police) agencies, sometimes they are purely police authorities.
The FIUs are collected in the Egmont Group or at FIU.NET. The anti-money laundering policy at international level is coordinated by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).
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