Banks could be given role in anti-terror battle

By David Cronin

Date: 01/12/05

Banks could be given access to data until now reserved for government authorities, as part of the EU's efforts to deprive terrorists of money.

Discussions are taking place between the European Commission and the Council of Ministers on sharing details of forged identity documents with financial institutions to help them detect suspect transactions.

One possibility that has been raised is that banks may be able to draw down information held in the FADO (False and Authentic Documents) database.

Set up following a decision by EU governments in 2000, FADO was originally conceived as a tool for tackling organised crime, yet its scope has been widened to terrorism. As well as samples of fake ID cards and passports, it contains details about techniques used by counterfeiters.

Gijs de Vries, the EU's anti-terrorism co-ordinator, has recognised the idea of extending FADO to banks is problematic, as many of the details on it are confidential. "A particular issue is to what extent it is feasible to produce a non-confidential version which could be shared with financial institutions," he wrote in a paper on terror- ism financing.

De Vries has also urged that the question of monitoring transactions be explored to ensure that police or other relevant authorities are "rapidly informed" about whether a suspect has a bank account.

The UK presidency of the EU had indicated a desire to reach a deal with the European Parliament by the end of this year on a related regulation. In a recent draft, the UK suggests that banks should be required to keep records of information on those who make transfers for five years. The proposal says that in criminal investigations "it may not be possible to identify the data required or the individuals involved until many months or even years after the original transfer of funds".

Robert Priester from the European Banking Federation expressed concern that MEPs have not yet began debating the proposal, which is to enter into force in January 2007. Estimating that banks would need at least a year to prepare for adapting to the regulation, he said: "As with any issue that demands banks changing their IT systems, it is never simple and never cheap."

Sources in the Parliament's civil liberties committee blamed a large workload for their inability to consider the dossier so far.

At the December 2004 EU summit, member states were called on to put forward the names of suspected terrorists whose assets should be frozen. But De Vries has described the response to this call as "limited". A list published by the Council earlier this year contained the names of 45 individuals. Many were linked to Basque separatists ETA rather than to Islamic extremist organisations.

The meeting of justice and interior ministers which begins today (1 December) will discuss a separate paper from De Vries on the implementation of the Union's June 2004 action plan on terrorism. While his report says much has been achieved this year, he says some of the deadlines in the plan have proven "unrealistic". Among those deadlines was one for finalising a programme for protect-ing "critical infrastructure" such as energy and transport networks by the end of 2005.

Article reports on discussions between the European Commission and the Council of Ministers on sharing details of forged identity documents with financial institutions to help them detect suspect transactions. Banks could be given access to data until then reserved for Government authorities, as part of the EU's efforts to deprive terrorists of money.