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19 Jan 2021 – Articles

Danske Bank steps up collaboration with the Swedish Police Authority and other Swedish banks to fight financial crime


Since June last year, Sweden’s five big banks, including Danske Bank, has worked with the Swedish Police Authority to strengthen the fight against money laundering and organised crime through increased information sharing. After promising results, the initial pilot phase has now turned into formalised collaboration between the banks and the Swedish Police Authority.

A Swedish initiative to fight financial crime has been established with formal collaboration between the Swedish Policy Authority and Sweden’s five biggest Bank, including Danske Bank, following promising results from an initial pilot phase. 


As a collaboration between Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB and Swedbank and the Swedish Policy Authority, the Swedish Anti-Money Laundering Intelligence Task Force-initiative, or SAMLIT, was launched as a pilot project in June 2020 to explore ways to improve cooperation in the fight against money laundering, organised crime and terrorist financing. 

Better information sharing
With regular meetings to share information between the banks and the Intelligence Unit from the National Operations Department (NOA) of the Swedish Policy Authority, the pilot has seen increased information sharing on new methods, types of crimes and patterns. 

“We are very pleased with the progress of the SAMLIT pilot. It has been a great collaboration between colleagues in the banks and the police, who are working hard to help combat financial crime by pooling their skills and information, so that we can be more effective.  We have been pleased with the success of the pilot and it is great that we are now turning this into a permanent collaboration. Of course, each bank and law enforcement agency can do more to improve what we do in combating financial crime, but if we want to make a real difference, it is going to be critical that there is a systematic, coordinated and collaborative approach between financial market players and the police,” says Satnam Lehal, Head of Financial Crime Compliance at Danske Bank.   

We are very pleased with the progress of the SAMLIT pilot. It has been a great collaboration between colleagues in the banks and the police, who are working hard to help combat financial crime by pooling their skills and information, so that we can be more effective.

Satnam Lehal

Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Danske Bank


Formalised collaboration
Following the results of the pilot phase, the banks and the Swedish Police Authority have now decided to take the next step and further formalise this collaboration to produce a more formal framework for collaboration and governance in the coming months. 

SAMLIT will also work to effect changes to laws and regulations to improve information sharing and will actively encourage other players on the market to join this collaboration, making it even more effective.

“Money is often the driving force behind organised crime, and criminals use money laundering to hide the proceeds of their crimes. The banks’ partnership with the police has provided us with more information, increasing our ability to fight serious violence, such as shootings and bombings, as it helps us disrupt and hinder the people behind such violence,” says Linda H Staaf, Head of the Intelligence Unit from the National Operations Department (NOA).