The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current state of affairs related to the present conception of the financial intelligence unit in the Czech Republic called Financial Analytical Unit. After a brief introduction and historical excursion to the money laundering and terrorism financing topic the author will focus on explanation of crucial concepts of financial intelligence units especially from the law point of view. The European law sets the obligation for each member state to establish exactly one financial intelligence unit - the national centre for receiving, analyzing and disseminating suspicious transaction reports and other information regarding potential money laundering or terrorist financing to the competent authorities. The member states use different models of financial intelligence units. The paper evaluates the efficiency of the financial intelligence unit in the Czech Republic in comparison with other countries.