As the custodian of the financial system, it was quite obvious to me that the Reserve Bank will need to spearhead the work on anti money laundering which we did. The FIU was then temporarily set up in the Reserve Bank as we developed the legislation. We carried the FIU for some time until it was formally established by law in 2006.
There was some discussion on where the FIU should be located. In some countries it is with government or under a law enforcement agency like the Police. Some are with the central bank. In others they are an administered under a separate body. Many stakeholders that we consulted preferred that it be with the Reserve Bank.