Financial crimes have been on a surge in recent years. The National Crime Agency of Britain found that the scale of money laundering through the UK is in hundreds of billions of pounds annually. A syndicate of EPA members led by the likes of Refinitiv and Barclays formed this financial crime report called, ‘Facing up To Financial Crime.’ The committee of financial experts traced the latest developments in the way fraudsters and money launderers have abused payment services and traditional bank account to commit serious felonies. Through its intensive research, the Emerging Payments Association formed 12 recommendations for industry members to take action against financial crime in the world.
The effective and efficient use of technology is crucial to tackling the threat. Enhanced information sharing between financial institutions coupled with comprehensive and consistent reporting of criminal activities across the globe is going to be the key in this fight against financial crime. The report also concludes that establishing a worldwide digital identity solution is the crux of tackling these abuses, encouraging all financial and payments firms to harness the power of digitization and make the lender’s market a transparent information space that aids every financial institution in preventing future crimes.
The EPA recommends all different trade associations to come together and promote the adoption of best practices among PSPs for better risk management to comply with financial crime legislation and enable uninterrupted access to banking facilities. Tony Craddock, director general of the EPA, said: “Financial crime concerns every company in the payments industry. Because it affects everyone involved in moving money, whether consumers, businesses or governments. In this report, we have identified what’s going on, by whom and at what cost. We have developed recommendations for action that are clear, timely and impactful and we call upon interested parties to collaborate with us.”
An encouraging comment that supports plans of the agency to install a common platform and commercial model that enables information sharing by government and law enforcement agencies with financial services companies.
