The fight against money laundering is high on the international community’s agenda. In a groundbreaking initiative, seven major banks, including Barclays, Lloyds, and NatWest, are sharing customer data with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to combat organized crime, fraud, and money laundering. This project is the largest of its kind globally and aims to curb the flow of illicit funds through Britain, Reuters reports.
Key Highlights
- Participating Banks: Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander, TSB, Metro Bank, and Starling Bank.
- Objective: To tackle economic crime, which costs the UK economy up to £350 billion ($452 billion) annually.
- Launch: The project went live in May and has already identified eight new crime networks.
Adrian Searle, director of the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, emphasized the project’s goal: “To bring together the collective efforts of law enforcement, government, regulators, and the private sector to combat economic crime.” The project has led to the identification of three crime networks now under further investigation and has provided new intelligence for ten major NCA investigations.
Data Sharing and Protection
Under the program, bank employees are seconded to the NCA, forming a team of 15-20 intelligence officers, data scientists, and analysts. This team investigates suspicious money movements while ensuring legitimate customers are not affected. Data sharing is conducted under strict conditions to comply with European data protection and privacy laws.
The banks involved have legal frameworks allowing them to share customer information without prior notification to fulfill their legal obligations in detecting and preventing financial crime. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is monitoring the project, which has increased its acceptance among participating banks.
