Estonian FIU annual report: Money laundering risks remain

TALLINN - In its annual report for 2024, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Estonia notes that the risks of both money laundering and sanctions evasion remain.

Several schemes were exposed and suspicious money was prevented from entering the Estonian financial system during the year. As a result of administrative proceedings, companies that did not comply with the law or were not doing business either relinquished their activity licenses or lost their right to provide services, the FIU said.

Fraud continued to be one of the main predicate offences for money laundering in 2024, being the category of crime with the largest material damage in Estonia. Tax crimes and sanctions evasion were also common. Sanctions evasion schemes have become more complex.

Vulnerability to money laundering has increased in the gambling operators' sector, where the number of operating licenses has doubled over the past five years. Most of the new entrants are remote gambling providers, and companies linked to foreign nationals dominate both in volume and in terms of money laundering risks.

There is a need to improve the ability of obliged entities to detect suspicious transactions or behavior during business relationships and to report them in a timely and high-quality manner. The state's capacity to respond to such information also requires enhancement.

According to Matis Mäeker, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, credit institutions stand out positively compared to other sectors in fulfilling their notification obligations. However, relying solely on them does not make the state effective as a whole.

"Every obliged entity has the responsibility and legal duty to protect the Estonian financial system from exploitation. The same applies to supervisory authorities, investigative bodies, the prosecutor's office, and the courts, each of which has its own role. All participants in the system have the ability to detect and prevent financial crime or play an important role in the functioning of the anti-money laundering system in other ways. In accordance with the rule of law, the legislature also has a key role to play in preventing the movement of criminal money and ensuring that the public interest is not compromised," said Mäeker.

The FIU also contributes to improving the situation through various IT developments.

In 2024, the FIU received 14,185 notifications and nearly 20,000 cross-border transfers of information. A total of 133 analyzed and aggregated transmissions of various alerts and nearly 1,700 transmissions of information were made to investigative authorities. Investigative authorities seized 5.7 million euros worth of assets restricted by the FIU. During the year, 19 new injunctions were issued, with the authorization of courts, to transfer suspected assets to the state. As of Dec. 31 last year, 733 licenses issued by the FIU were in force for the provision of virtual currency services, trust and company services, financial institution services, pawnbroking and precious metal buying and wholesaling services.