The recommendations are part of a new report issued by the anti-money laundering task force of Finance Denmark, the Danish business association for the financial sector. The task force was set up last December following a number of cases in the sector, including the case of possible money laundering at Danske Bank’s Estonian branch. The purpose of the task force has been to explore how the sector can strengthen the fight against financial crime through increased cooperation and joint solutions.  

“As a bank we play a vital role in preventing criminals from entering the financial system and consequently, we have a responsibility to detect and report suspicious transactions to the authorities.

Historically, we have not been good enough in this area, but there should be no doubt that the fight against financial crime is a key priority for Danske Bank, and consequently, we have taken a range of initiatives and invested heavily in the area in recent years,” says Philippe Vollot, Chief Compliance Officer at Danske Bank, and continues: 

Joint solutions across sector and authorities
Among the recommendations are five joint IT-solutions that the banks have already started to explore as well as a suggestion for a joint unit allowing banks, supervisors and the law enforcement agencies to share knowledge and exchange intelligence on specific, suspicious cases. 

Next step: Implementation of recommendations 
The next step is continuing the work to implement the sector-specific recommendations across the sector, while the recommendations will also be discussed with the relevant authorities and politicians.