Reflecting on Economic Crime Congress 2024: 3 Key Considerations

Last week, our Enveil team was thrilled to join the broader UK Finance community at the 2024 Economic Crime Congress event in London. The agenda focused on bringing the harms and impact of economic crime to life and fostering discussions around collaborative efforts and Public-Private partnerships that can mitigate these threats. 

It was fantastic to engage with stakeholders representing all facets of the financial crime landscape, from banks to regulators to law enforcement. Further, we were encouraged to see some key members of the new UK Government in attendance, putting a clear focus on the need for more effective data sharing across the regulated sectors. 

Reflecting on the panel discussions and our interactions throughout the event, here are three key considerations: 

1. Data sharing is a vital piece of the puzzle — It is clear that a critical ingredient to effectively joining the dots and ultimately preventing criminal activity in this sector, is the ability to extract key insights from disparate data sources. This was a theme that appeared throughout the day, with Security Minister Dan Jarivs doing a particularly powerful job of highlighting its importance, across the public / private divide.
2. Impact requires wider collaboration — A number of highly effective data sharing initiatives piloted throughout 2024 were referenced but to truly capitalize on the progress made, support from a wider range of organizations is needed. This post by Aminah Samad, Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, provides an effective overview of many of the panels that leaned into this need for more collaboration across industry and the public sector. 
3. Technology can help us tackle the risks of tomorrow — The battle against economic crime is complex and has an increasingly sophisticated cast of adversaries. Institutions have an opportunity to employ emerging technologies that will help make the UK a much harder operating environment for bad actors. One panel, featuring financial sector thought leaders Vivienne Artz, Hedwige Nuyens, and Claire Edwards, explored the tech-enabled fight against financial crime, and highlighted how Privacy Enhancing Technologies can be used to enable secure data usage in an AI-powered threat landscape.     

Our thanks to the UK Finance team for pulling together such an impressive and important event. We look forward to continuing to work alongside this community to explore and advance the economic crime agenda. 

Interested in learning more about the role technology plays in the fight against financial crime? Check out these resources:

• TechFinitive: Data is Key in the Fight Against Financial Crime
• International Banker: Unlocking the Power of Privacy Enhancing Technologies in Financial Services
• TechUK: The Most Important Digital Asset? Your Data