26 January 2021
In a pilot project, Danmarks Nationalbank has examined the potential of more effective monitoring of cash flows across banks in the fight against money laundering and VAT fraud. The project has shown that a correlation of data could have potential gains extending beyond what the individual bank or authority will be able to achieve on its own.
In the first half of 2020, Danmarks Nationalbank implemented the pilot project with the participation of the Danish Business Authority, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, Finance Denmark and a partner from the financial sector.
The pilot project showed that, by correlating banks’ transaction data with VAT, business and reporting data, the authorities can better identify suspicious behaviour, take more proactive action against criminals and discard non-relevant cases.
The project has been performed under the most stringent principles for data processing. All correlated data was anonymised, and the subsequent examination was conducted in a secure data room by analysts with security clearance. Data and hard drives were destroyed on conclusion of the project.
Danmarks Nationalbank has published an analysis describing the pilot project and its results. The results will be included in continued work under the management of the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs to examine the possibilities for the development of a joint system against economic crime.
Enquiries can be directed to press advisor Teis Hald Jensen on tel. +45 3363 6066.