Over the past year, the FIU has received the most information related to suspected fraud and tax crimes. Criminals have become more inventive and concealed in their activities. Bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets are simultaneously opened with various Estonian and foreign service providers, and transactions are conducted between seemingly unrelated individuals. The FIU is also increasingly noticing professional money launderers. All of this makes the detection of money laundering and related crimes more difficult and time-consuming.
“Many market participants have made significant progress over the past five years. The private sector increasingly understands its role in the anti-money laundering system and the types of exploitation it must protect itself against. To detect increasingly sophisticated criminals and prevent their activities, it is crucial to have the necessary tools and to identify offenses at the moment they are committed. This requires high-quality information, strong analytical capacity, and continuous cooperation between the public and private sectors,” said Matis Mäeker, head of the FIU.
“The next international MONEYVAL evaluation cycle has also begun, focusing on the actual effectiveness of Estonia’s system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. This sets a clear expectation for the state and all stakeholders to demonstrate how risks are identified in practice, what measures are used to mitigate them, and what their real impact is. As a country, we must quickly decide on our future path to become more effective, as we can no longer afford to lose time. In geopolitically uncertain times, political understanding of the importance of this issue and support for it are more important than ever. Negative consequences could be costly for society as a whole,” Mäeker added.
The 2025 annual report also provides a closer look at the development of financial intelligence units and their role globally.
In 2025, 14 323 reports were submitted to the FIU, of which 10 433 were related to money laundering suspicion or unusual activities. The remaining reports were mostly threshold-based reports. In nearly 1 500 cases, the FIU shared information with Estonian investigative authorities and foreign financial intelligence units, including 147 analysed disseminations to investigative authorities. As of 31 December 2025, 678 authorisations issued by the FIU were in force for providing services related to virtual currencies, trust and company services, credit institutions, pawnbrokers, and the purchase and wholesale of precious metals and stones.
