As one of the founding members of FATF, Japan has been a very active contributor to its work since its establishment in 1989. Japan chaired the plenary between July 1998 and June 1999 and the former FIU of Japan, JAFIO, which had been established within the Financial Services Agency, participated in tri-annual Plenary Meetings and working groups which conduct analysis of money laundering typologies. Even after the functions of FIU were transferred from JAFIO to JAFIC, JAFIC has continued to actively par ticipate in the discussion for new frameworks of AML/CTF measures and send staff members to the Plenary and working group meetings held every year.

ＦＡＴＦ https://www.fatf-gafi.org/

Japan is one of the founding members of APG and has been actively contributing to the activities of APG, much as it has with FATF. For example, the first Plenary Meeting and second typology meeting were both held in Tokyo in March 1998 and March 1999 respectively and Japan took the role of cochair with Australia between July 2004 and June 2006. This approach has not been changed even after the functions of FIU were transferred to JAFIC. Since its establishment, JAFIC has continued to send staff members to the Plenary Meeting and the typology meetings to participate in the study on the best practice of information analysis conducted by FIUs and on the latest modus operandi and trend of money laundering.

APG https://www.apgml.org/

Upon establishing JAFIO in February 2000 within the Financial Supervisory Agency (later the Financial Services Agency) as a Japanese version of FIU, Japan applied for membership in the Egmont Group, and was granted it in May 2000 at the 8th annual plenary held in Panama.

Since then, JAFIO had actively participated in the activities of the Egmont Group. It sent staff members to working group meetings and the Plenary Meetings, and took part in the drafting of the Egmont Group Charter. JAFIO also undertook the role of sponsor FIU (in co-sponsorship with the Thailand FIU) in the application procedures for Myanmar FIU, which is currently not yet an Egmont Group member.

JAFIC, which took over the functions of Japan FIU from JAFIO in April 2007, was granted the Egmont Group membership as the new Japan FIU at the 15th Plenary Meeting held in Bermuda in May 2007.

After joining the Egmont Group, JAFIC has sent its members to both the annual meetings and working groups to participate in the discussions on the principles related to information exchange between FIUs and other matters.

Moreover, JAFIC has taken over the role of sponsor FIU for the FIU of Myanmar in the application procedures into the Egmont Group from JAFIO and accepted the role of sponsor FIU for Pakistan FIU at the request of the Egmont Group in 2011.

Egmont Group https://www.egmontgroup.org/

It is necessary to exchange information on suspicious transactions with foreign FIUs timely in order to detect money laundering and terrorist financing by appropriately tracing criminal proceeds or terrorist financing transferred across borders.

On the other hand, Article 14 of the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds stipulates that JAFIC may disseminate information on suspicious transactions to foreign FIUs on condition that there is a framework governing the restrictions on the use of the disseminated information in foreign countries.

In response, JAFIC has established the necessary framework by exchanging a document specifying the restrictions on the use of provided information and other matters with foreign FIUs.

JAFIC has been coping with the negotiations for setting the frameworks for information exchange with numerous foreign FIUs in order to constructively exchange necessary information with them.

Statements of Cooperation between Japan’s FIU and foreign FIUs concerning Exchange of Information related to Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing