JMLIT: Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce

Definition

The Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce (JMLIT) is a UK-based public-private partnership formed to facilitate intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, and private sector financial institutions in order to detect, prevent and disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious economic crimes.

It operates under the umbrella of the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other UK authorities, and its model has been recognised globally as an example of collaboration across sectors.

Explanation

The rationale behind JMLIT is that the private sector often holds transactional and behavioural data that law enforcement needs, while law enforcement holds intelligence and investigative ability that financial firms lack.

By bringing these stakeholders together, JMLIT enhances the speed, depth, and effectiveness of investigations.

Members of JMLIT share typologies, red flags, case-studies, and intelligence under legal frameworks that allow for tactical collaboration beyond standard suspicious activity reporting.

Although membership is voluntary, the model encourages high-risk firms to engage actively, thereby strengthening the overall financial crime ecosystem.

Over time, the scope has expanded beyond large banks to include payments firms, crypto-asset service providers, professional services, and other regulated entities. 

JMLIT in AML/CFT Frameworks

JMLIT plays a significant role in AML/CFT by bridging gaps between the regulated sector and law enforcement.

Its contributions include:

• Sharing of industry typologies and emerging money-laundering schemes, enabling firms to update their risk-based controls.
  
• Facilitating information sharing in near real-time, which complements the traditional suspicious transaction reporting (STR) regime. 
  
• Enhancing sector-wide governance and oversight, as regulators increasingly expect firms to demonstrate engagement with public-private initiatives like JMLIT.
  
• Supporting the development of intelligence-led transaction monitoring rules, enabling firms to tailor alerts based on active investigation themes.
  
• Contributing to asset restraint and recovery operations, as intelligence shared via JMLIT helps law enforcement trace illicit funds and disrupt criminal networks.
  

Key Components of JMLIT

Membership & Structure

• JMLIT initially launched in 2015 as a pilot involving major banks, the Home Office, NCA, and City of London Police. 
  
• It now includes hundreds of firms across financial services, payments, crypto, telecommunications, and professional services. 
  
• The structure includes an Operations Group responsible for tactical intelligence flows, and thematic working groups focused on fraud, tax crime, illicit finance, crypto, and international coordination.
  
• Governance is provided via a steering committee, supported by law enforcement and industry chairs.
  

Intelligence Sharing and Typology Development

• Members share internal red flags, case studies, and data sets under confidentiality arrangements and legal protections.
  
• JMLIT issues threat bulletins, typology alerts, and sector-specific guidance, which firms integrate into their AML/CFT frameworks.
  
• Data fusion across firms allows identification of cross-institution or cross-channel patterns that might go undetected by a single entity. 
  

Investigative Support & Outcomes

• Intelligence shared through JMLIT has supported law-enforcement operations, arrests, account closures, and asset seizures. 
  
• Firms participating in JMLIT gain insight into “what law enforcement is seeing”, enabling proactive adjustment of controls rather than reactive compliance.
  

Examples of JMLIT Scenarios

Here are some practical illustrations of how JMLIT operates in the field:

• A major bank discovers an unusual cross-border funds transfer network. Through JMLIT, which leads to linkage with a law-enforcement investigation, multiple institutions are alerted, and a coordinated disruption follows.

• Payment-firm data reveals multiple new account openings tied to a common mobile virtual-network operator (MVNO). JMLIT working group identifies this as a new mule-recruitment pattern and issues a typology alert to members.

• Crypto-asset exchange information, shared via JMLIT’s crypto forum, exposes layering of funds through overseas service providers, enabling multiple banks to refine their screening rules accordingly.

• Professional services firms identify suspicious invoice-factoring arrangements across clients. JMLIT intelligence suggests a link to organised crime via a neutral third-party intermediary.
  

Impact on Financial Institutions

Operational Benefits

• Firms gain access to actionable intelligence beyond generic threat lists or open-source alerts.
  
• Lower false-positives by aligning internal monitoring rules with patterns recognised by law enforcement.
  
• Strengthened control frameworks and a reduced regulatory footprint due to demonstrable engagement with industry initiatives.
  

Compliance and Supervisory Considerations

• Regulators increasingly reference public-private partnerships like JMLIT when evaluating firms’ AML/CFT controls.
  
• Non-participation may lead to supervisory questions about whether the firm is plugged into the broader threat-intelligence landscape. 
  
• Firms can earn reputational benefits by being visible contributors to high-profile industry efforts.
  

Challenges & Considerations

• Access: Smaller institutions or niche sectors may struggle to gain entry or feel underrepresented, limiting the model’s inclusivity
  
• Data Sharing: Firms may hesitate to share proprietary intelligence due to legal liability, client confidentiality, or competitive concerns.
  
• Scalability: The volume and complexity of financial crime are growing rapidly; ensuring the task force keeps pace with digital-asset threats, real-time analytics, and cross-border flows remains a task.
  
• Technology: The taskforce model historically relied on in-person collaboration; scaling it into fully digital, automated intelligence-sharing platforms is an ongoing evolution.
  
• Integration: Ensuring intelligence from JMLIT is incorporated into each firm’s internal monitoring, alerting, and case-management systems requires resource and governance commitment.
  

Future Outlook

The next phase of JMLIT and similar models is expected to emphasise:

• Wider membership, including fintechs, virtual-asset service providers, and professional-service intermediaries.
  
• Enhanced cross-jurisdiction coordination and global expansion of the model.
  
• Greater use of data analytics, machine learning, and automated intelligence sharing to accelerate detection and intervention.
  
• Linkages between public-private partnerships and traditional suspicious activity reporting regimes, to avoid siloing of intelligence.
  
• Transparent feedback loops that allow member firms to see how their shared intelligence contributes to outcomes, reinforcing engagement.
  

Importance of JMLIT in AML/CFT Compliance

The JMLIT model is pivotal for modern AML/CFT compliance because:

• It operationalises intelligence-led prevention, beyond rule-based monitoring alone.
  
• It enables firms to align their controls with evolving typologies and investigative-grade insight.
  
• It helps institutions demonstrate robust governance and risk-based frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations.
  
• It fosters a collective defence model that acknowledges criminals exploit fragmentation and information asymmetry.
  
• It provides a blueprint for global collaborations in financial crime prevention, signaling the importance of partnerships in the 21st-century threat environment.
  

Related Terms

• Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
  
• Information Sharing Agreement
  
• Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)
  
• Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR)
  
• Typology Alert
  
• Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP)
  

References

• National Crime Agency – “What we do: National Economic Crime Centre”
  
• GOV.UK – “Anti-money laundering taskforce unveiled” (25 Feb 2015)
  
• Nardello & Co – “A Decade of Partnership in the Fight Against Financial Crime: the Joint Money Laundering Intelligence Taskforce Ten Years On” (16 Jul 2025)
  
• UK Finance – “Information fusion in the fight against financial crime”
  

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