Money laundering, fraud, and crypto-traps: UIF Director Enzo Serata discusses the new frontier.
of financial illegality
"Italy still at high risk, but more ready to react"

Yesterday, June 10, the presentation of the 2024 Annual Report of the Financial Intelligence Unit for Italy took place in the Bank of Italy's Conference Hall. Once again this year, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Director of the UIF, Dr. Enzo Serata, and the Deputy Director, Dr. Alfredo Tidu, for the kind invitation to participate in person at this important opportunity for discussion. The event confirms its status as a crucial step in the Italian anti-money laundering system, and this year's edition offered particularly insightful insights, both in terms of the quality of the presentations and the strategic depth of the reflections offered.

To fully capitalize on the richness of the material presented, I have decided to divide my analysis into three parts. In this first part, I will focus on the two opening remarks: that of the Minister of Economy, Hon. Giancarlo Giorgetti, and that of the Director of the FIU, Dr. Serata. In subsequent parts, I will analyze the report's key findings and dedicate specific space to analyzing the types and new threats identified.

Minister Giorgetti's speech

The Minister opened the day by emphasizing how combating money laundering and terrorist financing represents one of the most complex and crucial challenges today in a global context marked by uncertainty and rapidly evolving dynamics. He emphasized the need for structured institutional synergy at the national, European, and international levels to ensure an effective response to emerging threats.

The work of the UIF, the Minister noted, is an integral part of a system based on collaboration between authorities and shared responsibility. Suspicious Transaction Reports (SOS), in particular, constitute the essential basis for investigations and for the identification and seizure of illicit assets.

Among the most significant threats identified in the latest National Risk Analysis, Giorgetti highlighted the growing use of crypto-assets for illicit purposes and the rise in cyber fraud. Faced with this scenario, Italy has already initiated regulatory strengthening, subjecting crypto-asset service providers to the same anti-money laundering requirements as traditional intermediaries and introducing traceability requirements.

The Minister also recalled the FIU's central role in the Financial Security Committee and emphasized its contribution to risk analysis. In particular, he highlighted the Unit's commitment to implementing international financial sanctions—especially against Russia and Belarus—which has strengthened Italy's international credibility.

He concluded with a significant announcement: the creation, within the Ministry of Economy and Finance, of a new Directorate General dedicated to the prevention of financial crimes, a concrete sign of the government's attention and preparation for the implementation of the new European regulatory package and the operation of the future AMLA Authority.

Report by Director Enzo Serata

It was a dense, lucid and at times alarming speech, which Enzo Serata, director of the Financial Information Unit for Italy, gave during the presentation of the Annual Report 2024.

From the outset, Dr. Serata thanked the institutions, colleagues, authorities, and UIF staff, emphasizing that the battle for economic legality cannot be fought alone. It requires teamwork. And above all, vision, because—as he emphasized—illegal dynamics move with astonishing speed.

One of the most central passages of his speech was dedicated to theNational risk analysis, approved at the end of 2024 by the Financial Security Committee. This was the first exercise to also include the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The picture that emerges is worrying: the risk of money laundering in Italy remains "very significant," with epicenters in corruption, tax evasion, drug trafficking, and corporate crimes. Serata emphasized the corrosive role of corruption, which saps the credibility of institutions and opens doors for organized crime. But he also outlined a path forward: anti-money laundering can and must become a tool to make public administration more impervious to infiltration.

A particularly rich and revealing chapter of the report concerns the intertwining between tax evasion, misuse of public funds, corruption and organised crimeAccording to Serata, these areas do not represent separate phenomena, but often overlap, feed off each other, and find fertile ground in sectors of the real economy and in public administration itself.

In 2024, almost a quarter of all SOS analyzed The investigation focused on tax fraud, confirming that tax evasion and avoidance remain one of the main channels for illicit wealth accumulation. The most frequent scams involve false invoicing, often involving the use of virtual IBANs and transfers abroad, particularly to Southeast Asia and China. These illicit flows often transit through opaque channels, exploiting unauthorized operators who act as banks but without the same oversight requirements. In effect, it's a parallel and semi-clandestine network of financial intermediation.

Alongside these phenomena, Serata denounced thedistorted use of public funding, both ordinary and extraordinary (such as those under the PNRR). Numerous cases of beneficiary companies with highly anomalous profiles have been documented: fictitious capital increases, false guarantees, use of funds to repay debts to the same financiers, and even actual conflicts of interest. In some cases, a business model emerged that focused exclusively on the ability to transfer risk to the state, without any effective oversight.

Even more disturbing is what has been discovered in the sector of sureties in favor of the public administrationThe UIF has identified a significant number of false guarantees, often issued by individuals posing as agents of authorized foreign intermediaries, but who in reality were acting entirely abusively. These transactions frequently involve brokers, intermediaries, and professionals, involved in the fraud chain with opaque but crucial roles.

All this, Serata explained, finds a structural connection with the operating methods of the organized crimeApproximately 15% of the reports analyzed were directly linked to mafia interests, while a further 18% had indirect or suspected contextual ties. These often involved cash transactions, tax fraud, investments in the photovoltaic sector, or activities with little regulatory oversight, where mafias can easily gain entry. The result is a drug-ridden economy, tainted by illicit capital that distorts competition, circumvents the rules, and corrupts decision-making processes.

Corruption, the Director said, is the lever through which mafias penetrate institutions. But not only that. It's also the means by which companies and individuals seek shortcuts to access funds, licenses, and authorizations. This is why the UIF's work, in addition to identifying suspicious flows, aims to: increase awareness of public administration, making it more resistant to pressure and deception.

No less important is the question of Suspicious Transaction Reports (SOS)In 2024, more than 145.000 reports were received—a huge number, yet a slight decline compared to the previous year. The decline was primarily in reports from banks and Poste Italiane, while those from professionals and those operating in the cryptocurrency sector increased, even significantly. This is a sign of greater awareness among those who were previously less involved.

But quantity alone is not enough. Serata insisted a lot on the quality of reportsThe UIF has invested in systems like QUASAR and RADAR, capable of better analyzing and classifying risks. And it is thanks to these tools that low-risk SOSs have decreased today: a sign that operators are sharpening their instincts.

It's not an easy fight. Money laundering today is no longer just a matter of cash and shell companies. It's increasingly digital, transnational and sophisticatedIt operates through virtual IBANs, exploits regulatory arbitrage, infiltrates public funds, photovoltaic, and renewable energy, and uses high-tech tools like stablecoins and untraceable wallets. Criminals don't just use cards: they exploit system vulnerabilities.

And as technology advances, the UIF adapts as well. The director discussed ongoing projects to use artificial intelligence to select the most relevant information and initial machine learning experiments to filter out zero-risk cases. He also reiterated that digitalization must go hand in hand with security and confidentiality, two key principles of the UIF's actions.

The report also highlights the growing effectiveness of collaboration with investigative forcesIn the last two years alone, the analyzed SOSs have received approximately 48.000 positive responses from the Guardia di Finanza's Special Currency Police Unit and nearly 10.000 from the National Anti-Mafia and Counterterrorism Directorate. This represents concrete recognition of the value of those reports. This result was also achieved thanks to ongoing dialogue with the judiciary and other regulatory bodies.

Serata then touched on an often overlooked topic: public funds. The PNRR has opened up enormous flows of money. And these flows, unfortunately, attract fraud. The FIU has intercepted numerous attempts to unlawfully access funding, often conducted through shell companies, false guarantees, or disguised self-financing practices. This is a minefield, where collaboration between public bodies becomes crucial.

One of the strongest points of the speech was reserved for the birth of the new European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), which began its operations in 2025. Serata described it as a "unique opportunity" to strengthen European cohesion against hybrid and cross-border threats. Italy plays a leading role, including through participation in technical discussions to define common standards and methodologies.

The director didn't hide the difficulties. He spoke of "inevitable transition costs," resistance, and operational difficulties. But he also pointed to a clear direction: harmonize rules, share data, and make anti-money laundering a more agile system, capable of both reactive and preventive measures. Not bureaucracy, but active protection for the economy and democracy.

In closing, the message was clear: the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing is a national and international mission, which requires adequate tools, but also conviction, a sense of duty, and team spirit. The UIF is there, Serata said, and will do its part.

This article is the first in a series of three in-depth articles dedicated to the presentation of the UIF 2024 Report. I have chosen to divide the analysis into three installments, which will be published weekly. In the following installments, we will delve deeper into the data contained in the report and delve deeper into the new types of threats identified by the Financial Intelligence Unit. The aim is to convey, comprehensively and rigorously, the complexity of the work carried out and the direction the Italian system is taking in preventing financial illegality.

In second part, we will focus on the data that emerged from the report: volumes of reports, sectors most involved, operational dynamics and trends in the main indicators. Part ThreeFinally, it will be dedicated to the analysis of new types of risk and emerging threats, with a focus on the most insidious phenomena reported by the UIF during 2024.

See you next week for Part II.

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