On this day in 2017, Kosova’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) joined the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, becoming the 153rd member. The Egmont group is an intergovernmental organization based in Toronto, Canada, which facilitates cooperation between states in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. At its core, the Egmont group recognizes the globalized nature of financial networks and that coordination and intelligence sharing between states are the most effective tools to combat malicious financial activity. Membership in this group signals a dedication to improving financial stability and increasing the capabilities of the state’s financial infrastructure to prevent malign actors from taking advantage.

The entry of Kosova is significant as it allowed Kosova to demonstrate its capabilities as a state and increase its legitimacy as a cooperating partner in combating money laundering and malicious terrorist financiers. As soon as Kosova joined this organization, it found great success in tackling a case in which nearly a million euros in a bank account were frozen due to its money laundering origins. Two internationals were also eventually prosecuted for tax evasion. Kosova’s FIU cooperated with relevant states and returned confiscated funds to the victims. It is through organizational involvement and successes like these, which have been published in these organizations’ reports, that Kosova has shown it is more than capable of cooperating.

Egmont published in their report that Kosova provided an “invaluable exchange of information involving 17 Egmont Group members just months after Kosova was admitted into the Egmont Group.” Kosova has shown it can effectively cooperate with other countries in fighting financial crimes.