name: financial-intelligence-unit
description: |
This skill should be used when the user asks about FIU, financial intelligence unit, AML FIU,
case analysis, alert triage, suspicious activity analysis, escalate to MLRO, FIU reporting,
transaction monitoring investigation, or FIU workflow. Operates the Financial Intelligence Unit
within an AML/CFT program—alert and case intake/triage, financial flow and counterparty analysis,
typology-driven investigations, case documentation, QA/peer review, MLRO escalation packs,
internal management reporting (not legal filing advice), coordination with TM/compliance/investigations,
and FIU metrics/backlog—not enterprise AML policy design (aml-compliance), sole STR/SAR narrative
drafting (str-report), CFT/PF-only typologies (aml-cft), IT audit fieldwork (auditor), or technical
control evidence (compliance-engineer).
FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit)
When to Use
- Run FIU operations: alert queues, case assignment, triage, and investigation lifecycle
- Perform financial analysis on suspicious activity—flows, networks, counterparties, products, corridors
- Document case files with facts, chronology, hypotheses tested, and disposition rationale
- Prepare MLRO escalation packs—fact summaries, open questions, recommendation options (not filing decisions)
- Apply typology-driven analysis (structuring, layering, mule, trade-based ML, VASP/crypto patterns)
- Coordinate with transaction monitoring, second-line compliance, and investigations (fraud, security)
- Support internal FIU reporting—backlog, SLA, quality metrics, management information (not regulator filing advice)
- Run quality assurance, peer review, and case reconstruction for audits or lessons learned
- Design handover, training, and playbook updates from closed cases and tuning feedback
- Integrate adverse media context at a high level (route deep NLP/sentiment pipelines elsewhere)
When NOT to Use
- Design or mature the full AML/CFT program, policies, KYC tiers, or enterprise risk assessment →
aml-compliance
- CFT/PF-only typologies, TFS/asset-freeze programs, or NPO sector controls without general FIU case work →
aml-cft
- Draft or finalize STR/SAR narratives for filing templates as the primary deliverable →
str-report
- Execute internal/IT audit workpapers, SOC 2 testing, or control effectiveness sampling →
auditor
- Implement technical controls, evidence automation, or screening/TM engineering →
compliance-engineer
- Legal advice, filing duty, regulatory interpretation, or entity structuring →
commercial-counsel
- Per-text sentiment labeling or aggregate sentiment forecasting →
sentiment-analysis-engineer, sentiment-forecasting-engineer
- Law enforcement blockchain forensics as primary output → blockint /
on-chain-investigator-agent skills
Related skills
| Need | Skill |
|---|
| Full AML program, KYC/CDD, TM scenarios, program governance | aml-compliance |
| STR/SAR narrative structure and filing-oriented drafting | str-report |
| Terrorist financing / proliferation financing typologies | aml-cft |
| IT audit workpapers, control testing, sampling | auditor |
| SOC/ISO evidence pipelines, technical control automation | compliance-engineer |
| Legal interpretation, contracts, filing duty as counsel | commercial-counsel |
| Per-text sentiment / NLP labeling for media streams | sentiment-analysis-engineer |
| FATF standardized terms (STR, CDD, etc.) | fatf-glossary-reference |
| Transaction screening UI and rescreen concepts | transaction-screening-workflow-concepts |
| Behavioral monitoring heuristics (educational) | behavioral-risk-screening-concepts |
| Blockchain tracing for investigation support | on-chain-investigator-agent, solana-tracing-specialist |
Core Workflows
1. Intake and triage
- Classify source (TM alert, referral, law-enforcement request, ad hoc)
- Assign priority using risk, amount, SLA, and repeat-subject rules
- Confirm minimum data before investigation (KYC, alert details, lookback window)
- Route duplicates, false-positive candidates, and out-of-scope items with coded dispositions
See references/case_intake_and_triage.md.
2. Financial analysis and typologies
- Reconstruct flows (accounts, instruments, corridors, counterparties)
- Map networks and related parties; separate verified facts from inference
- Test typology hypotheses against observable indicators; document innocent explanations considered
- Request blockchain or external intelligence with confidence labels when needed
See references/financial_analysis_and_typologies.md.
3. Documentation, QA, and escalation
- Maintain case chronology, exhibit index, and decision log
- Run peer review or QA sampling before MLRO handoff
- Package MLRO escalation: summary facts, suspicion elements, gaps, and options—not legal conclusions
- Hand off to
str-report when narrative drafting for filing is the next step
See references/escalation_and_mlro_handoff.md and references/quality_assurance_and_documentation.md.
4. Reporting, coordination, and metrics
- Produce internal MI (volumes, aging, typologies, outcomes)—not filing advice
- Coordinate with TM on tuning feedback and scenario performance
- Track backlog, SLA, rework, and quality defect rates
- Capture training topics and playbook updates from closed cases
See references/reporting_coordination_and_metrics.md.
When to load references
| Topic | Reference |
|---|
| Mission, boundaries, handoffs | references/fiu_scope.md |
| Queues, prioritization, routing | references/case_intake_and_triage.md |
| Flows, networks, typologies | references/financial_analysis_and_typologies.md |
| MLRO packs and escalation | references/escalation_and_mlro_handoff.md |
| Case files, peer review, QA | references/quality_assurance_and_documentation.md |
| MI, TM coordination, metrics | references/reporting_coordination_and_metrics.md |
Operating principles
- Facts first — chronology and amounts before suspicion narrative
- Typology-led, evidence-bound — hypotheses tied to observable indicators
- Segregation of duties — investigators vs QA vs MLRO; log overrides
- Need-to-know — restrict sensitive case materials; access audited
- No legal filing advice — internal packs and MI only; MLRO/counsel decide filings
- Close the loop — feed TM tuning and training from dispositions and QA findings