Sharp increase in suspected unlawful transactions in Norway

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The automated monitoring systems used by Norwegian banks are identifying an ever-increasing proportion of attempted financial crime. The number of suspicious transactions automatically identified by the systems has increased by 30% between 2006 and 2009. These figures are produced by EDB Business Partner, which supplies 140 Norwegian banks with systems for the detection and prevention of money laundering. Cases involving deposits of ’dirty’ money account for the majority of the cases identified.

"While financial crime is on the increase, systems for detecting and preventing money laundering are becoming more efficient. The proportion of suspicious transactions identified automatically is now as high as 76%, up by more than 30% since 2006. Electronic monitoring has opened up entirely new opportunities to detect systematic money laundering, and this extends to small-scale activities as well as large-scale transactions", explains Magnus Thorburn, Head of Core Systems, Bank & Finance, at EDB.

The use of electronic systems for detection and prevention has so far been concentrated on private individuals. The number of suspicious transaction reports that involved corporate market customers represented just 3% of the total number of suspicious transactions detected in 2009. This may be due in part to the more limited use of electronic systems to target corporate customers.

"In 2008, only 5% of the electronic measures in place targeted corporate customers. This proportion has now increased to 12%. We expect that this will lead to an increase in the number of reported incidents of money laundering involving Norwegian companies", adds Magnus Thorburn.

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