Financial Intelligence Unit of Kosovo
is a central independent national institution responsible for requesting, receiving, analyzing and disseminating to the competent authorities, disclosures of information which concern potential money laundering and terrorist financing.
Mission
Role and Functions
Management
Financial Intelligence Unit of Kosovo is a central independent national institution responsible for requesting, receiving, analyzing and disseminating to the competent authorities, disclosures of information which concern potential money laundering and terrorist financing.
The mission of the Financial Intelligence Unit is through its legal mandate, to be leading the overall improvement of the government in preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing at the national level. The proper functioning of the system as a whole, through close institutional cooperation and activities of the Financial Intelligence Unit, is the main objective of the FIU-Kosovo.
The principal functions of the FIU-Kosovo are:
Receiving, storing and analyzing suspicious activity/transaction reports (SARs), cash transaction reports (CTRs), and information from other sources connected with suspected money laundering and terrorist financing;
Dissemination of information concerning suspected money laundering or terrorist financing to competent investigative bodies for further investigation;
Supervision and inspection of reporting subjects to ensure compliance with reporting and recordkeeping obligations;
Information exchange and cooperation with FIUs in other jurisdictions, and with other and investigative and regulatory bodies;
Training for reporting subjects and for investigative and regulatory personnel; and
Compile statistics and records and based thereon make recommendations to the Minister of Economy and Finance the Minister of Justice, the police, the Kosovo Customs in Kosovo and/or other relevant persons or bodies regarding measures which may be taken and legislation which may be adopted to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities;
Applying administrative sanction for non-compliance of reporting subjects
The Oversight Board of the Financial Intelligence Unit
The Oversight Board of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Republic of Kosovo (FIU) was established by the Law No. 05/L-096 on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing and the members of the board ex officio are:
Minister of Finance who serve as the Chair of the Board, Minister of Internal Affairs, the Chief Prosecutor of Kosovo, the Director-General of the Kosovo Police, the Director of the Tax Administration, the Director-General of the Customs of Kosovo, and the Managing Director of the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo.
The Board shall oversee and ensure independence of the FIU, but it has no executive or enforcement powers vis a vis the FIU and no right to interfere in any way in FIU ongoing cases.
The Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Kosovo
Financial Intelligence Unit of Kosovo is headed by a Director who is responsible for directing and managing the FIU.
FIU-K together with other institutions and bodies in Kosovo are obliged to cooperation in a reciprocal way, help each other while performing their duties and also coordinate activities as regarding their powers in the compliance with applicable laws on the fight and prevention of money laundering and finance terrorism, and this helped FIU-K to continue with more intensive cooperation with other law enforcement institutions so that they understand the criminal offense of money laundering and finance terrorism and other related criminal offenses in order to enhance the efficiency to indirect collection of proofs through methods and practices internationally used in fighting these negative occurrences.
A special working focus has been given to the public institutions by holding freshmen training and presentations from unit’s staff, where in cooperation with Economic Crimes Institute and Kosovo Judicial Institute and the support of the EU funded Project B&S during this reporting period 10 trainings has been held, and more than 300 officials of law enforcement institutions has been trained as regarding Financial Investigations Techniques, Criminal code and criminal procedure code, Prevention of ML/FT, finance terrorism, assets confiscation, fighting corruption, follow money, asset tracing and confiscation etc.
The money laundering phenomenon is characterized by the fact that in most cases, money laundering is affecting most of the countries of the world and at the same time in most cases it is exceeding national and ocean boarders. For this reason, national exchange of information in an intense and efficient way would have positive impact fighting these negative phenomena.
Law on AML/CFT issues mandate to FIU-K that spontaneously or through a request to distribute information with any foreign counterpart agency that function and are subjects of similar obligations of the confidentiality, despite the nature of the agency which is a subject of reciprocity. The offered information is used only with the approach of the agency and only for the purpose of fighting money laundering, similar criminal offense and finance terrorism.
FIU has the abilities to internationally exchange all the information that can be reachable or possible in a direct or indirect way from FIU.
