Financial Crime World

Sweden Launches National Anti-Money Laundering Initiative to Fight Financial Crime

Pilot Project Aims to Combat Organized Criminal Activity and Prevent Financial Crimes

Stockholm, Sweden - The Swedish police authority has joined forces with five of the country’s largest banks to launch the Swedish Anti Money Laundering Initiative (SAMLIT), a pilot project aimed at combating financial crime and preventing organized criminal activity. The initiative is set to begin in June 2020 and aims to be fully implemented by 2021.

Shared Information Key to Success

The SAMLIT initiative brings together the Financial Police and the five major banks - Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB, and Swedbank - to share information on methods, suspicious transaction patterns, and new types of crime identified through joint efforts. This collective approach is expected to increase efficiency and proactivity in detecting and preventing financial crimes.

  • By sharing more information with each other, the participating banks and authorities can detect crimes at an earlier stage and prevent them from being committed.
  • The initiative will help fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as combat organized crime.

Broader Effort to Tackle Financial Crime in Sweden

The Swedish Anti Money Laundering Initiative is part of a broader effort to tackle financial crime in Sweden. The country’s Money Laundering Act empowers the police authority to request information from banks bilaterally, but SAMLIT takes this cooperation to the next level.

Key Players Involved

  • Danske Bank has a long history of cooperating with supervisory authorities and other banks across the Nordics and Europe.
  • The bank is currently developing a platform for handling and administering KYC data with five major Nordic banks.
  • Danske Bank is also part of a European AML taskforce led by the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) to develop recommendations for an improved EU regulatory framework on anti-money laundering.

Future Plans

The initiative is expected to be joined by more banks in the future, further strengthening Sweden’s efforts to combat financial crime. This collective approach will enable participating banks and authorities to stay ahead of changing patterns and methods used by criminals, ultimately reducing the impact of financial crimes on society.

Quote from Linda H Staaf, Head of Intelligence Unit at National Operations Department (NOA)

“We believe that by sharing more information with each other, we can detect crimes at an earlier stage and prevent them from being committed. This collaboration will help us fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as combat organized crime.”

Quote from Johanna Norberg, Country Manager at Danske Bank Sweden

“This is an important step in the fight against financial crime. The initiative will enable us to share information more effectively and stay ahead of changing patterns and methods used by criminals.”