$750bn in money laundering and illicit funds flowed through Europe
Nasdaq Verafin has released its new report, Financial Crime Insights: Europe, that takes a deeper dive into the scale of financial crime across Europe. This report provides new analysis of the data from the 2024 Global Financial Crime Report, and industry insights from a survey of anti-financial crime professionals from across Europe, including the EU, UK, Nordic region and more.
Financial crime in Europe is staggering in scale and inextricably linked to a global crisis that undermines financial systems, economies and communities around the world. An estimated $750bn in illicit funds flowed through Europe’s financial system, representing 2.3% of total European GDP. Fraud also poses a substantial threat to Europe’s financial industry, with an estimated $103.6bn in losses resulting from various scams and bank fraud scenarios.
New insights from our research reveals that of all funds laundered across Europe, $194.9bn was moved across borders, representing more than a quarter of the total estimates for money laundering activity in the region in 2023. With cross-border transactions increasing globally, pan-European and international financial flows are a significant vector for illicit activity.
This expert analysis highlights the scale of financial crime across the region, which significantly impedes the growth and security of Europe’s financial system. The nefarious activities that underpin illicit flows, such as elder abuse, fraud scams, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and terrorist financing – have serious economic and societal impacts across Europe and around the world.
“The time is now for industry stakeholders to work together to build on the positive momentum across Europe to deliver on a step change in the fight against financial crime. Criminals are not bound by banks, borders or regulations – so by aligning on shared goals, we can strengthen economies across the region and safeguard the wider financial system from harm,” said Stephanie Champion, executive vice president and head of Nasdaq Verafin. “This report highlights the need for unified action to address both domestic and cross-border risks, fostering a safer financial system for all.”
Financial Crime Insights: Europe provides authoritative research findings and industry perspectives that define notable trends and priorities within the financial sector across the UK, EU, and Nordics. Additionally, it underscores opportunities for stakeholders within the European financial industry to align their priorities for financial crime prevention, collaborate across sectors and borders, and expedite innovation through advanced technology. Innovative solutions and data-driven strategies will be crucial for enhancing anti-money laundering and fraud prevention efforts, ultimately ensuring a more secure financial ecosystem in Europe.
Nasdaq Verafin has been a partner to the financial industry for decades and provides an industry-leading suite of cloud-based financial crime management solutions that support banks in preventing fraud and uncovering money laundering. Today, more than 2,600 financial institutions representing $10 trillion in assets use Nasdaq Verafin to fight crimes such as scams, elder financial exploitation, human trafficking, and terrorist financing. Nasdaq Verafin’s unique consortium data approach delivers insights into counterparty risk to reduce false positives and significantly improve payments fraud detection. Its AI-driven solutions help banks automate compliance processes for efficiency and delivers highly targeted AML analytics for specific financial crime typologies and ultimately improves the effectiveness of anti-financial crime efforts.
This report focuses on financial crime trends and perspectives in Europe, EU, the UK and the Nordic region and was produced by Nasdaq Verafin in collaboration with Celent Research and Oliver Wyman.
The full report can be found at https://verafin.com/financial-crime-insights-europe/.