Companies urged to tackle financial crime tech

Monday 10 February 2020

A professional services firm is urging Channel Islands accountants and regulators urged to get to grips with the technology being used in economic crime.

Such crimes cost the world $3.5 trillion per year - more than the gross domestic product of the UK - and often sees countless people lose savings, jobs and sometimes much more.

Mark Le Page, EY’s Advisory Director in Guernsey, was on a panel that provided analysis for the international report, Economic Crime in a Digital Age, which focused on the challenges businesses face in fending off breaches from sophisticated attackers.

Pictured: Guernsey EY Director Mark Le Page wants more Channel Islands firms to take action on financial crime.

The panel found there is still a pressing need to create a regulatory environment that supports financial innovation as well as limit the risks for consumers and businesses. Policymakers and regulators must overcome the technology lag – the time taken for legislation to catch up with technology.

Mr Le Page believes technological advances and criminal activity can often go hand in hand. However, he says innovation is key to providing security to consumers and building trust.

Rogue actors are increasingly abusing emerging technologies and innovation to compromise data integrity. To effectively mitigate this risk, companies need to carefully review and assess areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and cyber security linked to their critical processes and data Mr Le Page said.

“Trust is at the heart of the financial services industry," he commented. "Today’s technological advances challenge trust. We must also consider how innovation can provide consumers and service providers with a sense of security and reliability.

"The scale of innovation requires the same degree of imagination that, in the past, created stock exchanges, established as a response to an expanding shareholder and stockbroker base demanding reliable networks. I am excited by the developing solutions that will build trust in a very different, but dynamic, ecosystem that will fuel financial and economic growth.”