Joining forces: Public-private partnerships vs. financial crime
At Fourthline, we believe we can only effectively help prevent fraud and address our clients' concerns by working collaboratively with public entities.
By The Fourthline Team
SHARE
The fight against financial crime has become more challenging as the world becomes increasingly digital, and financial crime is a $2 trillion problem, so the stakes are high.
In this article, we outline how we collaborate with public entities and why we believe it benefits the global fight against financial crime and the quality of our services.
The largest international operations of their kind, these annual initiatives, coordinated with Eurojust, INTERPOL, the European Banking Federation (EBF), Microsoft, Western Union, and more, are built around the idea that public-private information sharing is critical to fighting complex modern crimes.
To build a safer financial ecosystem, the financial industry must leverage technology and actively promote cross-border cooperation between the private and public sectors.
Krik Gunning, CEO of Fourthline
Knowledge sharing
Another example of how we support our public partners is through knowledge sharing of fraud trends we see at national and international levels.
In the context of Europol’s EMMA initiatives, for instance, Europol works "based on private sector actors reporting incidences of suspicious or possibly illegal financial conduct to national law enforcement authorities." Using these data, law enforcement may construct a picture of laundering networks and then decide how to respond to potential money-muling behavior in each case.
Outside of these specific initiatives, Fourthline also works with various public partners worldwide, inside and outside the EU. These partners range from law enforcement agencies to (semi) public parties on specific projects and on a continuing basis.
Why we collaborate
To foster innovation
The dynamic nature of financial crime demands constant innovation in prevention measures. Public-private partnerships foster innovation by providing a platform for collaboration between regulatory bodies, law enforcement, and private-sector entities like Fourthline.
Collaboration allows for the development of new solutions and technologies that can aid in fraud prevention and detection. At Fourthline, we constantly improve our digital identity verification services to protect clients from financial crime. Our partnerships enable us to innovate further and provide sophisticated tools to prevent fraud that can benefit the global fight against financial crime and our clients.
To strengthen protection
The joint EMMA 7 operation resulted in the identification of 18,000 money mules and 1,803 arrests in 2021. Similarly, during the operational phase of EMMA 8, carried out between mid-September to the end of November 2022, 8,755 money mules were identified, and 2,469 individuals were arrested. This last initiative also prevented 17.5 million euros from being laundered by money mules.
The success of these initiatives demonstrates the positive and powerful impact of public-private partnerships in protecting the global digital world.
In conclusion, public-private partnerships are essential in the fight against financial crime. By working together, we can identify new trends and emerging risks, share best practices, improve our understanding of anti-financial crime regulations, and ultimately develop effective protection and prevention measures.
At Fourthline, we are constantly working on widening our ecosystem of public partners. Contact us if you want to know more about how we could partner in protecting the digital world.
