In this final blog previewing The Dark Money Conference 2021, Director of fscom, Philip Creed outlines what to expect on Day 3 of the conference.
Financial crime (fincrime) is evolving, and with it so must our approach to tackling it. With advancements in technological offering new potential for combating fincrime, scrutiny on this issue is intensifying.
It is time to modernise our approach to fincrime, switching from a reactive, defensive-oriented approach to a proactive, forward-facing one. In doing so, organisations, institutions, governments, and individuals can raise the standard of their efforts and gain significant advantages over illicit and nefarious actors.
To formulate an effective global response against the growing financial crime problem, participants from across the anti-financial crime community are coming together at the The Dark Money Conference on 15-17 September 2021. Hundreds of attendees and over 40 speakers will be virtually convening at this years’ conference to discuss strategies for combatting financial crime and to share perspectives on how we might mitigate the social, economic and human harm caused by financial crime.
Joining the data dots
As a global issue, fincrime is beyond the remit of any one organisation, institution, or government. Instead, all relevant actors and bodies must collaborate to coordinate strategy and action, and a policy of open company data-sharing is the cornerstone of this approach. Pooling of knowledge and resources can help to advance our fight against fincrime, facilitating more time- and resource-efficient action by establishing a more comprehensive picture of the fincrime ecosystem. Rebecca Lee, Chief Impact Officer at OpenCorporates, will join the opening panel of the final day of the Dark Money Conference 2021 to expand on how open company data can aid the fight against fincrime, and what the future holds in this regard.
A more organised response to organised crime
Nefarious actors are leveraging new technologies and increasing global connectivity to become more organised, efficient, coherent and coordinated in their fincrime efforts. Attempts to thwart fincrime can no longer rely on legacy protocols, which are ineffective against the AI- and blockchain-powered efforts of the modern financial criminal.
Governments, institutions, corporations and law enforcement must come together to fashion an organised, collective response to match the ever more organised fincrime ecosystem. Ben Keith, Barrister at 5 St Andrew’s Hill, will be joined by George Greenwood, Data Journalist at The Times and The Sunday Times, Pete Townsend, of Norio Ventures, Frédéric Pierson, Senior Specialist at Europol, Oonagh van den Berg, Founder and Managing Director of Virtual Risk Solutions, will come together at the Dark Money Conference to discuss how a more organised approach, bearing in mind recent technological developments, can benefit the fight against fincrime.
Fighting back with tech
New technological developments also offer positive potential for transforming our approaches to tackling fincrime. Indeed, these are often the same technologies used by sophisticated financial criminals themselves – namely machine learning, AI and data-science driven methodologies. These facilitate greater speed and precision in combating fincrime, enabling a more proactive attitude by making processes more efficient and streamlined.
The potential of these technologies is reflected in their growing popularity, with Deloitte/TechCircle reporting that 72% of organisations are expecting to have implemented automated monitoring and detection by the year’s end, while 50% expect to be reliant on analytics and data modelling to combat fincrime. Stuart Clarke, Blackdot Solutions, Livia Benisty, Banking Circle, Jane Jee, Kompli, and Dominic Mac, PwC will discuss in greater detail how companies are currently using these technologies, as well as how these have yet untapped potential for revolutionising anti-fincrime activity.
Where will the light shine brightest?
As the various panels across the multiple days of the Dark Money Conference will outline, fincrime is a serious problem affecting all levels of society that will only intensify in the coming years. As such, collaboration, information-sharing and coordination among all actors around the globe is the vital next step in combating the now widespread, complex threat of fincrime.
Combining this new collective approach with the modern technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution can help us to create a comprehensive framework to effectively drive the battle against fincrime forward. Although a gargantuan effort will be required, by working together we can negate the efforts of financial criminals and improve security and society for millions of people across the world.
The final roundtable of the Dark Money Conference 2021 will draw together the discussions of the preceding three days as David Balson, Ripjar, Denisse Rudich, Rudich Advisory, Samantha Sheen, Ex Ante Advisory, De Quincey Bailey, HMRC, and Alex Beavan, Western Union will cast their eyes towards what the future holds.
To close the conference, the audience will be treated to a keynote speech by journalist and author Jamie Bartlett on the case study of Dr Ruja Ignatova, the founder of the cryptocurrency OneCoin and a convicted fraudster known as the “Cryptoqueen”.
Tickets for The Dark Money Conference 2021 online are now on sale!
From 15-17 September, hundreds of global leaders, law enforcement, government bodies, 40+ speakers and more, will come together to help create a solution to tackle financial crime.
You won’t want to miss it!
