Campos Neto says AI can be used to combat money laundering

The president of the Central Bank (BC), Roberto Campos Neto, stated this Monday (4) that, at the same time as it poses challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) brings opportunities in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing . He participated in a seminar that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Law 9,613/1998, known as the Money Laundering Law. The ceremony was promoted by the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf).

“We foresee, for example, the use of artificial intelligence as an auxiliary tool in this work [de combate à lavagem de dinheiro], but there are challenges, as new technologies can also be used for illicit operations”, said the president of the BC. Campos Neto said that Brazil has improved in tracking the origin of illegal resources, reported Brazil Agency.

“We have advanced a broad agenda of new technologies that have the potential to increase the traceability of operations and make combating and preventing these illicit activities even more effective,” he stated. He took stock of Brazil’s progress in two areas: combating money laundering and the transfer of money to terrorism.

As main milestones, the BC president cited the country’s alignment with guidelines from the United Nations (UN) and the Financial Action Group of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Campos Neto said that Brazil will maintain its commitment to suppressing financial crimes and that the BC will continue to collaborate with control bodies.

“I can say that this cooperation has generated many good results. The actions of the Central Bank have contributed to enabling important operations conducted by the Federal Police, the Public Ministry and other control bodies,” he declared. Since the law came into force, said Campos Neto, the Central Bank has made 33 million communications to Coaf, of which 5.5 million last year alone.