White-collar crime affects innocent people who frequently can ill afford to bear the loss and whose lives are sometimes affected very tragically and very directly. Among the victims are 100 elderly citizens in Florida who lost their life savings on a retirement village real estate scam; half became destitute. Even when viewed in more abstract terms, the direct loss caused by white-collar crime is staggering. In 1982, for example, the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, and Mitchell estimated the loss at $200 billion. Thus, white-collar crime siphons billions of dollars a year from America's economy, adds to the costs of goods and services, and subtracts from the revenues available to Federal and State treasuries. White-collar crime is extraordinarily difficult to investigate successfully. Since it frequently succeeds by deception, coverup, and record manipulation, its victims may be unaware that a crime has been committed until long after the event. A principal investigative shortcoming is the lack of an efficient means of exchanging information about white-collar criminals whose crimes affect victims in several jurisdictions. The Economic Crime Council of the Department of Justice recommends the development of the Index as a way of upgrading law enforcement coordination. Such a system would materially assist in the effectiveness of Federal and State efforts against white-collar crime.