The main purpose of General data protection regulation is the harmonisation of data protection, which ensures unified protection of individuals’ rights and eliminates the unfair competition of companies, in EU member states. The General data protection regulation has required banks to adapt their internal processes. Among them are appointing a data protection officer, mandatory reporting in cases of breaches of data protection, redefining individuals’ rights and broadening definition of personal data. The regulatory changes will have far-reaching effects on the development of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing. For these purposes, several tasks were mandated to banks. In order to comply, banks use modern technologies, as manual monitoring is not efficient anymore. Banks acquire and create data with the use of algorithms. In order to detect suspicious transactions, transaction monitoring is based on pre-defined scenarios. In the future, banks will process new categories of personal data acquired from different sources. Further into the future, they will use machine learning, which will enable them to analyse and predict potential money laundering and terrorism financing. While using modern technology, banks will have to abide by the data protection principles, which call for additional measures. These measures safeguard individuals’ privacy, although simultaneously slow down technological development. Data protection and anti-money laundering demand constant balancing while managing the risks that they create. Especially, if their principles are in conflict. Finding the balance, while pursuing the goal of maximising profit, will maintain banks in between Syclla and Charybdis.
|