Turin and Piedmont are officially applying as headquarters of the European Authority for the control and supervision of anti-money laundering which will be operational from 2023. The promoting committee will be chaired by Alberto Perduca, former assistant prosecutor of Turin and prosecutor of Asti, and will have as vice-presidents the same Alberto Cirio, president of the Region, and the mayor of Turin Stefano Lo Russo. The Committee will also be able to count on the experience of Gian Carlo Caselli, in the role of Special Advisor.
The announcement was commented this morning by the President of the Region, Alberto Cirio, on the occasion of the event on Artificial Intelligence and financial crime organized by theAFC Digital Hub (Anti Financial Crime Digital Hub), the consortium for fighting financial crime through the use of new technologies and artificial intelligence created by Intesa Sanpaolo with the collaboration of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin and CentAI.
The experience of the Fintech Hub represents "the accelerator of digital change of the Milan Hub of the Bank of Italy dedicated to companies that offer digital solutions to innovate financial, banking and insurance services by leveraging new technologies and new approaches" he said Alessandra Perrazzelli, Deputy General Manager of the Bank of Italy present at the conference.
“There is ample space for our country – Cirio stated on the other hand regarding Italy's chances of obtaining the seat of the Authority – which are linked to a series of factors, first of all the role of forerunner of the Italian judiciary connected to the presence of the Guardia di Finanza”. Cirio also underlined the importance for the purposes of the candidacy of presence of Intesa Sanpaolo and the AntiFinancial Crime hub initiative. "We think that Italy is an excellent candidate for this seat thanks to the authority of its institutions that oversee this issue: the Bank of Italy, the Financial Information Unit, the Guardia di Finanza, the Judiciary - said the president of Intesa Sanpaolo Gian Maria Gros-Pietro – We believe that our initiative which is totally autonomous and is part of our business plan can contribute to this candidacy”.
“Europe needs one Authority AML (Anti-Money Laundering) strong supported by a single regulation “, echoed him Elizabeth McCaul, member of the Supervisory Board of the ECB. “It is essential to have a robust single body of rules to bring clarity to standards and promote harmonization of ways of working”. The second relevant factor, for McCaul, is “the importance of building supervisory teams with a strong culture of excellence and independence in supervision”. The third element is a "perfect collaboration between the Anti-Money Laundering Authority and the prudential supervisory authorities".
Openness to other credit institutions and intermediaries in the fight against money laundering and terrorism
AFC Digital Hub was formed last June by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin and CENTAI (Center for Artificial Intelligence, the new research institute dedicated to artificial intelligence participated by the Bank) with the aim of becoming a national and international point of reference for the fight against money laundering and terrorism and to open also to other credit institutions and intermediaries.
"With AFC Digital Hub we have started a journey that will lead us to collaborate in synergy with some Italian excellences in the scientific, technological and academic fields in the fight against digital financial crimes, which are constantly growing all over the world" he said Charles Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo on the occasion of the establishment of the consortium.
For a long time Intesa Sanpaolo has invested, with the use of several million a year and a task force of around 1200 people, in the prevention and fight against financial crimes, thanks to new technologies and skills.
“The new 2022-2025 Business Plan envisages measures to further strengthen the controls, the adoption of advanced internal models for the interception of potentially suspicious transactions, an increasing use of artificial intelligence and constant cooperation with the Authorities Italian and European countries and the best scientific and industrial partners” says a note from the Bank.
In the future, also beware of market abuse and fraud
The use of artificial intelligence allows the AFC Digital Hub (which has had about thirty dedicated people since the beginning) to develop innovative solutions and models for identifying suspicious phenomena attributable to illegal activities. In a first phase, the new Hub will be dedicated to researching phenomena related to Recycling and fight against terrorism. For the future, the intention is to extend the activity also to the interception of situations of market abuse and fraud, neighboring areas in which theNational Cybersecurity Agency directed by Roberto Baldoni, with whom it will be possible to find common ground, they tell Intesa Sanpalo. “The new technologies will allow Intesa Sanpaolo and the banks and companies that want to join the consortium to increase effectiveness in risk management and to define new quality standards in all areas of activity”.
