Neotas Financial Intelligence Unit FAQs

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence related to suspected or actual money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. FIUs play a crucial role in combating financial crimes and maintaining the integrity of the financial system.

Key functions and responsibilities of a Financial Intelligence Unit include:

  1. Receiving and Analyzing Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs): FIUs receive reports of suspicious transactions from financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), and other reporting entities. These reports are analyzed to identify potential cases of money laundering or terrorist financing.

  2. Processing and Sharing Information: FIUs process the information received from various sources and analyze patterns, trends, and links to uncover potential financial crimes. They also share relevant information with law enforcement agencies and other competent authorities for further investigation and action.

  3. Maintaining Financial Intelligence Databases: FIUs maintain databases of financial intelligence, including suspicious transaction reports, financial profiles of individuals and entities, and other relevant data, to aid in ongoing investigations and analysis.

  4. International Cooperation: FIUs collaborate with other FIUs and international organizations to exchange information and intelligence on cross-border financial crimes, facilitating global efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

  5. Providing Support to Law Enforcement: FIUs provide support and intelligence to law enforcement agencies in their efforts to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

  6. Analyzing Trends and Risks: FIUs monitor and analyze trends in financial crimes to assess emerging risks and vulnerabilities in the financial system, enabling proactive measures to combat such risks.

  7. Educational and Outreach Initiatives: FIUs often engage in educational and outreach activities to raise awareness among reporting entities and the public about the importance of reporting suspicious transactions and complying with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

The establishment and operation of FIUs are typically mandated by national laws and international agreements, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. FIUs are critical components of a country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) framework, providing essential intelligence to support efforts in detecting and preventing financial crimes.

Find below a selection of the FAQs we hear when discussing Credit Risk Assessment, our investigative Platform and Credit Risk Reports.

A lot of our investigative work is highly confidential. How can your Platform help?

You can license, integrate and operate our Platform, independently of Neotas. This means that you are able to conduct your own investigations in-house and all the data remains within your own IT/network. Our Platform is compliant, consistent and auditable.  The Platform will be much easier to use and save you at least 25% in time savings alone.

How do we incorporate your Platform as part of our investigative work?

Our Platform interrogates and analyses over 600bn data points, including 198m+ corporate records and 100% of publicly available data on the Internet. We cut the time and hassle it takes to conduct investigations and we ‘join the dots’. Our Platform provides a centralised data hub and includes the traditional database checks that you may already be using.

What other services do you provide?

We can provide a managed service whereby we deliver reports back to you, or a subscription based service which allows you to conduct multiple investigations on a regular basis for a lower fee.

What kind of service can I expect from Neotas when I give them my enhanced DD cases?

We have a super friendly and helpful team at Neotas! Quite simply, you provide the seed information, we have a briefing call, where we understand the case and we give you a turnaround time. When the case is complete, we’ll walk you through the findings.

You will also be able to track your case using your own dashboard provided by us. You will have a single point of contact and a 24/7 response facility.

How do you find ‘hard to get’ information?

We are specialists in finding ‘hard to get’ and oftentimes hidden information! We apply our own proprietary investigative techniques to provide a richer and more complete profile of companies and individuals. The Platform is designed to find ‘links’ in disparate unconnected information. We have thousands of cases to demonstrate this.

For instance, we recently uncovered a hidden alias of a subject who had tried to cover up money laundering. Check out our case studies collection. 

We have extremely difficult and complex cases which are very hard to solve. How can Neotas help?

Our Platform ‘spiders out’ across the Internet, building connections between disconnected and disparate data sources and finding links between unconnected parties. We can help you ‘join the dots’ in your difficult cases.

How does Neotas compare with experienced ‘boots on the ground’ investigators?

There is a vast amount of data available online and this is ever expanding. Google searches only search 4-6% of online content. We aggregate and analyse 100% of publicly available online data, giving you full coverage of the risks that exist. We are highly effective in uncovering hidden information. We don’t replace ‘boots on the ground’ but we compliment them!

If your question hasn’t been answered here, then we would love to hear from you. Contact us directly, or schedule a call below.

Schedule A Call

Contact Us

Stay ahead of financial crime threats and compliance challenges.

  • Learn about the amendments made to Money Laundering Regulations in 2023 aimed at bolstering the AML framework.
  • Gain insights into the significant increase in SARs and its implications for compliance.
  • Explore the implications of new legislative measures, including the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act.
  • Discover innovative solutions for compliance that promise to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.

Stay resilient in the face of regulatory challenges. Download the whitepaper today to empower your compliance strategy for 2024.