The Egmont Group, together with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), published a practical Handbook on International Cooperation against Money Laundering and called for stronger cross-border collaboration among analysts, investigators, prosecutors and other practitioners. The initiative responds to the view that money laundering is inherently cross-border and that weaknesses in international co-operation hinder effective investigation, prosecution and sanctions. The handbook emphasises faster, practitioner-led forms of informal co-operation, including secure communication channels, rapid response mechanisms and joint analysis, to complement slower and more procedurally complex formal legal processes. It also includes case examples, including a joint Financial Intelligence Unit effort in Italy, Spain and the Netherlands that uncovered a EUR 95 million laundering scheme, Operation AVARUS-X in Australia supported by U.S. Homeland Security targeting networks moving billions of AUD annually through money service businesses, a USD 150 million cryptocurrency seizure coordinated between U.S. and Indian authorities, and an INTERPOL-supported multinational rhino horn trafficking investigation that led to convictions in Singapore supported by evidence from South Africa. Three accompanying practical guides were developed for Financial Intelligence Units, law enforcement authorities, and central authorities responsible for mutual legal assistance including prosecutors. UNODC framed the publication as a resource in the lead up to the UN Crime Congress to be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in April 2026.

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