Washington, D.C., October 12, 2017 - The Institute of International Finance, its members and Europol gathered in Washington today for' a' joint meeting' to discuss ways to' increase regulatory, law enforcement and financial institution cooperation' in the' fight' against' illicit finance.'

At' the' meeting, Europol and the IIF' announced' the' formation of a' High-Level Forum' to build' a' public/private partnership' to improve levels of cooperation in the fight against criminal incursion in cross-border banking. The Forum' will be a platform for the public and private sectors to find ways within existing law to better share information and improve the current information sharing framework by identifying and mitigating barriers where possible. The' initiative is supported by the Financial Action Task Force' and national authorities and seeks to also identify opportunities for improvements in the' current' AML/CFT regulatory regime.'  ' '

"We must remain vigilant in protecting the global financial system from bad actors who would seek to use that system to finance crime and terrorism," said IIF President and CEO Tim Adams. "Despite best efforts by the public and private sector, the current AML/CFT system isn't working as intended. Too many illicit flows are reaching bad actors. We need to work together to develop new tools to fight financial crime. We look forward to continuing our engagement with Europol and other authorities' to accomplish' our' shared goals."' '

"Today's meeting showed growing recognition that anti-money laundering efforts need to be refreshed, and great willingness to work together across sectors and across borders to achieve greater strategic impact," said Europol Executive Director Rob Wainwright. "We will continue working in the coming months to translate good intentions into practical progress towards closer and more intelligence-led public-private cooperation in this field."'

This is the third meeting of Europol, the IIF and its members. It previously met in March on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Frankfurt and in June' in' The' Hague.' The' Forum' will continue,' both' at' senior and working group level,' with' engagement on collaboration in coming months.' '

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