Advancing Collective Efforts to Fight Economic Crime

This article served as the foreword for “Breaking Barriers: How Data Sharing Can Transform the Fight Against Economic Crime,” a new Global Counsel report aimed at advancing collective efforts to combat the global economic crime. Learn more about the research methodology and read the full report here. 

We live in a world where economic crime is prevalent, painful, and pervasive. It has, unfortunately, become a part of our daily lives to the point that headlines which should be shocking hardly garner attention. Most businesses and individuals have or will be affected by these criminal acts at some point, a fact that we seem to now tolerate to some degree as much of the fight is focused on discovery and mitigation rather than prevention.

This is not because preventative measures are beyond reach. As you’ll find highlighted in this new report, there have recently been positive movements in both discussion and action across the public-private divide. We live in a data-rich, technology-enabled world that is ripe with opportunity to evolve, and we’ve started to recognize areas where groundbreaking tools and capabilities can drive positive outcomes. This includes Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), which are currently being explored and leveraged in sandbox and real-world deployments on a global scale. All very encouraging, however, the scope of this progress does not yet align with the sheer size of the challenge. The lack of a clear, collective focus on economic crime prevention policy and practices by stakeholders across this space was the primary driver for undertaking a recent research effort.

While one might assume that the far-reaching impact of economic crime — spanning regions, socioeconomic status, and industries — would be enough to elevate its importance among policy makers and business leaders alike, its breadth may actually be having the opposite effect. The number of stakeholders involved has led to fragmented initiatives and a lack of ownership and urgency. The challenge feels large (because it is), which can make it easy to write off efforts by any given organization as too small to warrant pursuit. But, we must avoid bureaucratic inertia and act at scale so bad actors can no longer operate with such ease. 

Further, the commonality of these crimes also makes them easier to ignore. To some degree, the parties at the forefront of activity, including the financial industry, have come to accept financial crime as part of business as usual, a stance that leads to less urgency in driving solutions. If the risk and financial impact of such activity is built into a business’ bottom line, it is hard to imagine they see addressing these challenges as critical. 

The current economic crime climate necessitates bold action by both policy makers and industry stakeholders. The time to do more, collectively, is now — and a sustainable, near-term solution will be found at the intersection of policy, technology, and a commitment to action. This means working to leverage the cross-boundary data and technology-enabling capabilities that will allow stakeholders to collaborate and fight economic crimes more effectively.

By working together to reorient our approach from reactive to proactive, we can reduce the economic, societal, and personal impact of these pervasive criminal activities.