France

TRACFIN (Traitement du renseignement et action contre les circuits financiers clandestins) is the first national financial intelligence unit in France, which works under the authority of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Being an administrative intelligence agency, TRACFIN plays a very important role in France’s state security system and occupies a permanent place in France’s intelligence community. TRACFIN is an indispensable and secure link between the economic and judicial sectors of the state that collect financial information for the purpose of detecting clandestine financial networks and safeguarding the country's economy.

Through its analysis of intelligence reports, TRACFIN seeks to interrupt the flow of money that is associated with financial crimes before it compromises the safety of the nation. TRACFIN does not carry out any investigation of its own, but it receives thousands of suspicious reports (déclarations de soupçon) that are submitted legally by mandated professions, including banks, insurance companies, real estate agents, and notaries. The specialists at TRACFIN map out the networks of fraud, follow the trail of cryptocurrencies, and compare financial data against other intelligence gathered by different agencies in the state. After the identification of the clandestine network, TRACFIN prepares an intelligence dossier on finances and passes it on to public prosecutors, tax departments, and judicial investigators.