Uif Report, Razzante: “EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority Headquarters both in Italy”

“First of all, a general increase in reports of suspicious transactions emerges, but this does not mean that there is more money laundering. Money laundering is a delicate crime, not easy to detect, and the reports come from the system of financial intermediaries because they have glimpsed anomalies on which We need to investigate. The data tells us that our money laundering risk prevention system is at the forefront of the world and this is good news. This was stated to Adnkronos Ranieri Razzante, cybersecurity advisor to the Undersecretary of Defense Giorgio Mulè, professor of anti-money laundering legislation at the University of Bologna and director of the Security and Terrorism Research Center (CRST), commenting on the annual report on the activity carried out by the UIF, the supervisory authority established at the Bank of Italy. The reports of suspicious financial transactions to the UIF, connected to the pandemic in 2020, were 2,277 for over 8.3 billion euros: “The UIF records increases in reports because the banks have seen anomalous movements both in the disbursements and in the destination of the funds and in the fairness of the transactions carried out “. “It is noted that the first two sectors for reported anomalies are the purchase and sale of medical materials and the provision and use of guaranteed loans – continues Razzante – But it should not be surprising, because it was foreseeable that some funding would be used by convenience companies of organized crime. “. Razzante then observes that the increase in the SOS mainly concerns the Lazio and Lombardy regions and” it is natural that this is so – he specifies – in Lazio and Rome there are institutions, public administrations, tourist settlements while in Lombardy and Milan industrial settlements and finance “. These data demonstrate the opportunity for “the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority to be established in Italy. Our anti-money laundering tradition is the oldest, we were the first in Europe to implement the European directive and we are the first EU country to report transactions. suspects and for the discovery of anti-money laundering phenomena and investigations “. From the annual report on the activity carried out by the UIF, the supervisory authority established at the Bank of Italy,” an increase in reports on online tools and cryptocurrencies emerges, It seems to be related to organized crime phenomena (18%). This is an alarming element “, continues Razzante, author, together with Alessandro Cristallini, of the book ‘Cybercrime between economics and law’ published yesterday for Pacini publisher. reports of suspicious financial transactions (Sos) received by the Financial Intelligence Unit for Italy by the obliged parties were 113,187 and the communications received in 2020 nno highlighted that in Italy there is an intense use of cash: “This does not mean that we are at a high risk of cash, Germany handles more of it than we do and has less money laundering and evasion – observes Razzante – This year the increase in cash can be linked to elements such as the fear of the pandemic and the fear of crisis at the counters “.