Mr Levey used his first public speech since joining HSBC in 2012 to call for greater collaboration between governments and companies worldwide in their efforts to lock out ‘bad actors’ from the global financial system. Public and private sector actors are using their own financial data to fight financial crime as individual entities, but failing to meaningfully collaborate with one another, he said. ‘Greater information sharing [will] enable both governments and banks to better target our collective efforts at the bad actors,’ Mr Level told a conference in Geneva. ‘As it stands today, because we do not comprehensively collaborate in sharing information, we are fighting financial crime with one arm tied behind our backs.’

Improving precision, reducing exclusion

In combatting financial crime, Mr Levey argued there was a balance to be struck between taking a tough stance against ‘bad actors’ while also making sure that legitimate customers are able to access financial services. Financial companies looking to ‘de-risk’ their business by blocking access for large swathes of customers deemed ‘high risk’ has had the unintended consequence of feeding financial exclusion, he warned. However, Mr Levey means that improving information sharing mechanisms between governments, banks and other financial actors could significantly improve the precision of de-risking efforts and combat the exclusion of legitimate customers. An intergovernmental organisation – what Mr Levey called a Financial Action Task Force – might be one way to ensure legal protections for information shared between organisations, he suggested.

Sources: The Guardian; Telegraph