In a significant step towards enhancing India's fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for better coordination and information exchange. The agreement aims to strengthen the enforcement of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and its associated rules.

The MoU was signed by Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Director of FIU-IND, and Shri R.L.K. Rao, Executive Director of RBI's Department of Regulation, in a ceremony held in New Delhi.

Under the terms of the MoU, both FIU-IND and RBI will work together on a range of issues, including the sharing of relevant intelligence and information from their respective databases. The agreement also lays down the procedure by which regulated entities and reporting entities report to FIU-IND under the PMLA rules.

Other key areas of cooperation include conducting outreach and training for these entities, upgrading their Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) skills, and assessing money laundering and terrorism financing risks in the relevant financial sub-sectors. The MoU also highlights the identification of red flag indicators for suspicious transactions, the supervision of compliance with PMLA obligations, and regular quarterly meetings to discuss mutual interests.

“The collaboration between FIU-IND and RBI will further strengthen the country's financial integrity and compliance mechanisms,” said Shri Vivek Aggarwal after signing the MoU.

Mr. Bedobani Chaudhuri, Additional Director at FIU-IND, Ms. Veena Srivastava, Chief General Manager at RBI, Mr. Avinash Kumar, Deputy Director at FIU-IND, and Mr. Sanjoy Ghosh, FSE at FIU-IND, were also present during the signing of the MoU.

The collaboration signals a continued commitment from both organisations towards making India's financial system more robust and secure, in line with international standards for preventing money laundering and terrorism financing.