Bermuda institutions and individuals filed reports of suspicious activity — which indicates a suspicion of money laundering or terrorism financing — at a rate of almost two per day last year.

Attorney General Kim Wilson said last week that the Financial Intelligence Agency had received 651 suspicious activity reports (SARs) in 2009 — 126 of them in the fourth quarter.

Senator Wilson added that the number of requests for help from overseas agencies was on the increase.

The FIA was established in late 2008 to act as a clearing house for SARs, to determine which had grounds for further investigation by Police.

It came as part of efforts to beef up the Island's Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, something recommended by International Monetary Fund (IMF) inspectors.

Part of that was the strengthening of anti-money laundering legislation. Amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act widened the requirement to report any suspicions of money-laundering.

Any business suspicious of a client, not only banks, but also law firms and accountancy firms, for example, are required to report their suspicions to the authorities.

In a ministerial statement, Sen. Wilson said the FIA had given in excess of 30 presentations to institutions on topics including Know Your Customer (KYC) practices, SARs, money laundering, terrorism financing and the function of the FIA.

"It is anticipated that this increased awareness among the institutions and their employees will lead to an increase in the quantity and quality of the SARs filed, particularly among those institutions and persons filing for the first time," she said.

Sen. Wilson gave no details on how many of the SARs had been followed up with further investigation by Police or prosecutors.

"The FIA has been in operation for just over a year. Within that short time, it has been noted that the development of the FIA and its staff continues to grow," Sen. Wilson said.

"These developments include training, not only for the FIA staff but for those within the financial sectors of Bermuda."

The FIA is a member of the Egmont Group, an international body of financial intelligence units (FIUs).

It has signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with several fellow Egmont members. Sen. Wilson said that in the fourth quarter, MOUs had been signed with Armenia, Canada, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands Antilles and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The FIA is looking to sign a further eight to 10 MOUs at the next Egmont Group Plenary to be held in May 2010. Other FIUs involved will include Taiwan, Japan, Mauritius, Greece, India, Malaysia, South Africa and the Netherlands.