financial crimes investigation

Dev Bikoo

Ref Batch
G
Focus Area(s)
Anti-Corruption
Ref Batch Number
4
Country of Reform
Mauritius
Interviewers
Gabriel Kuris
Name
Dev Bikoo
Interviewee's Position
Director
Interviewee's Organization
Financial Intelligence Unit
Language
English
Town/City
Ebene
Country
Mauritius
Date of Interview
Reform Profile
No
Keywords
financial crimes investigation
international banking regulation
offshore banking
Combating Financing of Terrorism
Anti-money Laundering
Egmont Group
FIU
Abstract
In this interview, Bikoo explains his experience as the head of the Mauritius’s Financial Intelligence Unit. Starting from when Mauritius had an agricultural economy, Bikoo describes the development of financial regulation in Mauritius as it became an African offshore banking hub. Because he believes that financial crimes are no longer confined within borders, he emphasizes the importance of international coordination. He goes into extensive detail about his efforts to bring other African countries up to par with Mauritius’s regulatory developments by encouraging them to join the Egmont Group and set up Financial Intelligence Units. 
 
Transcript
G4_AC_GK_Bikoo_Final.pdf
G4_AC_GK_Bikoo_Final.txt
Profile

At the time of this interview, Dev Bikoo was the director of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Mauritius. He was called to set up an FIU in August 2002 and had become a member of the Egmont Committee that oversees the operations of the Egmont Group of FIUs. He had extensive experience in international coordination on combating financial crimes. Prior to 2002, he was senior adviser at the Ministry of Economic Planning, Financial Services and Corporate Affairs (2001-02); and director (1996-2001) and deputy director (1992-95) of the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Authority. He was closely associated with the University of Technology, where he taught a course on public-sector economics, and he was a part-time lecturer at the University of Mauritius. He earned a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a master’s in philosophy from the University of Southampton.