Barclays, NatWest, and Lloyds are among seven banks participating in a groundbreaking initiative to combat criminal gangs, money laundering, and illicit financial activities in the UK. This project, described as the largest of its kind globally, involves sharing customer data with the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The NCA’s new project, which went live in May, includes data-sharing agreements with additional banks like Santander, TSB, Metro Bank, and Starling Bank. The initiative has already led to the identification of eight new crime networks potentially exploiting the financial system.
This intensified effort to tackle economic crime comes in response to the increasing spotlight on how criminals and corrupt individuals have used the UK as a haven for laundering and hiding illicit funds, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The cost of economic crime to the UK economy is estimated at up to £350 billion ($452 billion) annually.
Adrian Searle, director of the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, revealed that the project has advanced three crime networks to the NCA’s intelligence division for further investigation and provided new insights into ten major ongoing investigations. The project is also set to run until October, with bank staff working directly with the NCA in teams to analyze financial transactions indicative of criminal activity while safeguarding legitimate customers.
Despite the banks’ concerns about European data protection and privacy laws, both the NCA and participating banks assert that only data with clear indications of economic crime is shared, following strict guidelines to minimize risks. The initiative builds on a previous pilot involving NatWest and Lloyds, which successfully led to an arrest and charge.
While the current volume of identified accounts is a “very small fraction” of the total in the UK, the project aims to set the stage for real-time data use to prevent economic crime, though significant progress is still needed to achieve this goal.
