Discussions at a respected British think-tank have revealed how financial intelligence units (FIUs) and banks are using data and intelligence to tackle trade-based financial crime.

The discussions took place at the Royal United Services Institute’s annual Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies conference.

Italian efforts

Italy’s FIU analyses aggregate data on cash transactions and financial flows submitted monthly by financial institutions.

Through quantitative analysis, the FIU has been able to detect anomalies that may point to potential cases of trade-based money laundering.

Critical inputs

Alternatively, the data when compared with data on suspicious activity reports may point towards cases of under reporting.

The findings inform not only the FIU’s work, but also provide critical input to law enforcement and the financial sector in their efforts to tackle trade-based financial crime and under reporting.

Dutch results

The Dutch financial supervisor, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) also employs advanced data analytics.

DNB receives information from Netherlands-based money service businesses on all money transfers they conduct to and from the country.

The supervisor processes the collected data using advanced analytics and determines the risk level of money service businesses and agents on that basis.