FINNISH INITIATIVE ON MONEY LAUNDERING INTELLIGENCE.

In a bid to combat money laundering more effectively, Finland, which holds the Presidency of the EU until the end of 1999, has proposed an initiative to improve information exchange between national financial intelligence units. These units now exist in each Member State, in line with the Action Plan approved at the Amsterdam European Council in June 1997, but their legal status differs from country to country, creating legal barriers to exchange of information.A draft Decision to go before the Council urges that financial intelligence units are defined as "a central, national agency which in order to combat money laundering is responsible for receiving and to the extent permitted, requesting, analysing, and disseminating to the competent...