Article 45 — Mutual assistance in the area of cooperation between FIUs

1.In the context of promoting cooperation between, and supporting the work of, FIUs, the Authority, taking into account the needs of FIUs, shall promote common approaches, methods and best practices. The Authority shall also organise and facilitate in particular the following activities:

2.An FIU may submit to the Authority a request for assistance related to the tasks of the FIU, specifying the type of assistance it seeks from the staff of the Authority, the staff of one or more FIU, or a combination thereof. The FIU requesting assistance shall ensure that access is given to any information and data necessary for the provision of such assistance. The Authority shall keep and regularly update information on specific areas of expertise and on the capacity of FIUs to provide mutual assistance related to the tasks of FIUs.

3.The Authority shall make every effort to provide the requested assistance, including by considering the support to be provided with its own human resources as well as coordinating and facilitating the provision of any form of assistance by other FIUs on a voluntary basis.

4.At the beginning of each year, the Chair of the Authority shall inform the General Board in FIU composition of the human resources that the Authority can allocate to providing the assistance referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. Where changes occur to the availability of human resources due to performance of the tasks referred to in Article 5(5), the Chair of the Authority shall inform the General Board in FIU composition thereof.