By AML Intelligence Correspondent
Elżbieta Franków-Jaśkiewicz has been elected as new chair of Egmont Group, the umbrella group of 174 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).
Egmont, which facilitates cooperation between national FIUs, has been without a full-time chair since well respected Xolisile Khanyile stepped down as head of South Africa’s unit.
Franków-Jaśkiewicz, who was interim chair, is Deputy Director of the Department of Financial Information at Poland’s Ministry of Finance (Polish FIU) and was tipped as frontrunner for the position.
She was recently named as one of 75 Women important to the Council of Europe as part of a celebration of the body’s 75th anniversary. The new Egmont chair is seen a strong advocate who will try to build consensus. She has spoken previously at AML Intelligence’s ‘Women in Fincrime’ Summits.
She takes over a group whose external image has been tarnished of later. Egmont has landed itself in controversy during the last year over donations and she will be tasked with restoring the body’s image amongst law enforcement members and the group’s many external stakeholders.
She is also the former chair of Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s AML affiliate to FATF.
Moneyval too has not been without controversy having employed a Russian whose father was linked to the Kremlin as its executive secretary. The individual involved moved to another department in the Council after the matter was reported by Bild newspaper. The group is now chaired by the head of San Marino’s FIU.
Ms Franków-Jaśkiewicz was confirmed as Egmont Group chair on Wednesday at its Plenary meeting in Paris. The plenary is hosted by Tracfin, France’s FIU, which is gearing up for the Olympics this summer.
Last week she was named one of 75 Women important to the Council of Europe in its 75th anniversary celebrations.
She said she was “honoured” to be included on the list and thanked the Council of Europe “for this distinction”.
Franków-Jaśkiewicz has over two decades of experience in government administration of Poland – the Polish Police, Ministry of Interior, and Ministry of Finance.
Since 2001, Franków-Jaśkiewicz has focused on anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing (AML/CFT) issues within the Polish FIU.
She was elected as vice-chair of Moneyval in 2015 and served as the group’s chair between 2019 and 2023.
Franków-Jaśkiewicz has represented the Polish FIU in numerous international AML/CFT activities and during numerous training sessions for various FIUs.
She is a speaker at national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops on combating ML/TF issues.
Franków-Jaśkiewicz holds a master’s degree in Arts. She also graduated from several postgraduate studies, including the Warsaw School of Economics, Police Academy in Szczytno, and the National School of Public Administration.
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