Edgar Lopez

Edgar Lopez has served as Director of the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit (GFIU) since 2020, overseeing the receipt, analysis and dissemination of financial intelligence to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. He has over 38 years of public service experience, including prior service in the military and policing before his appointment as Director.

Under his leadership, the GFIU has undergone significant strategic and digital transformation, strengthening its operational capability and international credibility. He played a central role in Gibraltar’s engagement with the MONEYVAL evaluation process and the subsequent reforms linked to the Financial Action Task Force recommendations, contributing to the jurisdiction’s enhanced AML/CFT effectiveness. He also led the implementation of a secure electronic reporting platform for Suspicious Activity Reports, modernising engagement between the FIU and the financial sector.

Internationally, he has represented Gibraltar within the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units and at the Council of Europe. He has delivered specialist training to governments, international organisations and academic institutions, including on the financing of human trafficking and counter-proliferation financing.

He has developed a particular specialisation in proliferation financing and sanctions evasion risk, designing a model framework that has attracted interest from governments and policy institutions. His research interests include cyber-enabled proliferation financing, financial intelligence strategy, and public–private partnership models in complex threat environments, particularly within small states and territories.

He has chaired multi-agency intelligence coordination forums and established a public–private partnership framework to strengthen collaboration between the FIU and the financial services sector.

He holds a Master’s in International Affairs with Cybersecurity from King’s College London.