FIU and Emigration Dept. join hands to bust money laundering, terrorist financing

Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the country’s Immigration and Emigration Department to receive information in order to facilitate investigations and prosecutions on money laundering and terrorist financing. 

Immigration and Emigration Department Controller General M.N. Ranasinghe and FIU Director H. Amarathunga signed the MOU on behalf of the respective institutions in the presence of Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the Central Bank Governor, who is also the Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) National Coordinating Committee.  
Money laundering and terrorist financing are internationally-connected financial crimes which could threaten the stability of the global economic and financial system. 

Further, with the expansion of cross-border movements of people and goods, money laundering and terrorist financing activities are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect. 
Thus, domestic coordination and cooperation between the FIU and the Department of Immigration and Emigration helps deepen Sri Lanka’s efforts of preventing and combating illicit cross-border movements of people or goods and establish a strong border control system in the country.  
The FIU has already entered into a similar MOU with Sri Lanka Customs, while arrangements are being made to sign MOUs with other relevant domestic government agencies for the above purpose soon.