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Jurisdictions Must Relax Privacy Rules on Intra-bank Data Sharing, Says Egmont Group
By Colby Adams
printCountries should ease their privacy restrictions that hinder cross-border data-sharing on suspicious transactions, according to a Toronto-based intergovernmental group of financial intelligence units. Approximately 60 percent of countries don't allow a financial institution to share suspicious transaction reports (STRs) with its foreign branches, the Egmont Group said in a 52-page white paper published Friday. The privacy and data protection restrictions stymie anti-money laundering efforts, the organization said. In such jurisdictions, "it is not always clear whether domestic legislation was purposefully constructed to prohibit sharing, or whether the prohibition is an unintended consequence of the wording of the legislation," the group...
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