The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Afghanistan (FinTRACA) was established as a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in 2004 under the AML law passed by decree of the President of Afghanistan. Based on the amended Anti-Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Law, the Financial Intelligence Unit is independent in its operations for the purpose of enforcing its powers, duties and functions, including full autonomy in decisions to receive, analyze and disseminate information related to ML and TF.
The main purpose of the amended AML Law in Afghanistan is to protect the integrity of the Afghan financial institutions and to gain compliance with the international treaties and conventions. The Financial Intelligence Unit is an operationally independent body that is administratively housed within the Da Afghanistan Bank (Central Bank of Afghanistan).
The mission statement of the unit is to deny the use of the Afghan financial institutions to those who obtained funds as the result of illegal activity, and to those who would use it to support terrorist activities and other crimes. FinTRACA, together with financial supervisors, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, contributes to building and maintaining an environment in Afghanistan that is directed to identify and combat money laundering activity and terrorist financing. This objective has national value as fulfilling Afghanistan’s international obligations to combat money laundering (ML) and terrorism financing (TF). The successful addressing of these obligations and needs will assist Afghanistan to combat ML and TF and will have a beneficial effect on Afghanistan’s relations with foreign countries and international organizations.
As the financial intelligence unit, FinTRACA mandate and statutory duties are to, receive, analyze and disseminate financial intelligence to Attorney General’s Office (AGO), law enforcement agencies, other relevant government bodies and international counterparts to assist combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. It is also required to analyze data they have legal access pursuant to the AML law to provide strategic intelligence including statistics, trends and typologies aimed to increase awareness of the general public, financial institutions, international counterparts and government officials of ML and TF trends in Afghanistan.
In order to meet its objectives, FinTRACA collects and analyzes information from a variety of sources. These sources include entities with legal obligations to submit reports to the FinTRACA when a suspicious transaction is detected, as well as reports of cash transactions above a threshold amount specified by regulation. When the analysis of this information supports the supposition of illegal use of the financial system, FinTRACA works closely with law enforcement and/or Attorney General’s Office to support their investigation of the illegal activity.
