Why in the news?
The Enforcement Directorate identified eight priority focus areas during its 34th quarterly zonal conference held in Guwahati from February 19 to 21, 2026. The meeting was chaired by ED Director Rahul Navin.
8 Priority Focus Areas
- Tracing foreign assets parked abroad, especially in Dubai and Singapore
- Misuse of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and collusion in resolution processes
- Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) through over and under invoicing
- Cyber fraud including digital arrest scams
- Illegal online gambling and betting networks
- Drug trafficking finance and hawala channels
- Share market manipulation linked money laundering
- Foreign interference through illicit funding
Legal and Institutional Framework
- Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002: Primary legislation empowering ED to investigate money laundering and attach proceeds of crime.
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016:Possible misuse through collusion among corporate debtors, resolution professionals, and Committee of Creditors.
Foreign Exchange Laws
- Review of pending cases under
- Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
- Foreign Exchange Management Act
- Target: Complete adjudication of all pending FERA cases by March 31, 2026.
International Cooperation Mechanisms
ED emphasized stronger global coordination through:
- Interpol via Bharatpol portal
- Egmont Group for financial intelligence exchange
- Asset Recovery Interagency Network Asia Pacific
- GlobE Network
Intelligence Platforms Used
- NATGRID
- FINNET
- Financial Intelligence Unit India
- Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre
- Narcotics Control Bureau
| [2019] Consider the following statements:Â
1. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has a ‘Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air’. 2. The UNCAC is the ever-first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument. 3. A highlight of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is the inclusion of a specific chapter aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners from whom they had been taken illicitly. 4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by its member States to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC and UNTOC. Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 3 only (b) 2, 3 and 4 only (c) 2 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 |
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