Organisations of Europol and INTERPOL established a working group on money laundering with digital currencies

Internet technologies become continuously more advanced, and so do the ways in which criminals utilise them for their illicit and illegal activities. Among these technologies, digital currencies are already transforming the criminal underworld. There is a clear consensus that digital currencies pose a money laundering and terrorism financing threat. Europol, INTERPOL, and the Basel Institute on Governance recognise that Law Enforcement Agencies worldwide could benefit from the exchange of information and knowledge with peers from other jurisdictions. Therefore Europol, INTERPOL, and the Basel Institute on Governance established the tripartite partnership on money laundering with digital currencies.

The working group will aim to:

• Gather, analyse, and exchange non-operational information regarding the use of digital currencies as a means of money laundering, and the investigation and recovery of proceeds of crime stored in the same form;
• Organise annual workshops and meetings for the representatives of the above mentioned Law Enforcement Agencies and institutions to increase the capacity to successfully investigate crimes in which virtual currencies are involved;
• Create a network of practitioners and experts in this field, who can collectively establish best practices and provide assistance and recommendations inside and outside the working group.