Proposal to improve authorities’ electronic access to information on account transactions sent out for comments

The Ministry of the Interior is requesting comments on a draft proposal for amending the Act on the Bank and Payment Account Monitoring System. The consultation round ends on 21 November 2024.

The Bank and Payment Account Monitoring System is a technical system used by public authorities to access information held by credit and payment institutions. The system currently enables access to information on client relationships, but not on account balances and transactions.

The proposal would add a new technical function to the Bank and Payment Account Monitoring System. The act would be amended to give certain public authorities the right to use the system to request information on account balances and transactions.

The proposal concerns the technical process for disclosing the information. Only certain public authorities who already have the right to access corresponding information would be able to request account information through the system. These authorities include the Police, Finnish Security and Intelligence Service, Finnish Tax Administration, Financial Supervisory Authority and Finnish Customs. The proposal does not put forward any new powers for public authorities.

Requests would concern specific official tasks that the relevant public authority needs information on account balances and transactions to complete. Public authorities would not have direct access to client information. Requests could only be made to credit and payment institutions through the centralised Bank and Payment Account Monitoring System.

A single shared system would save costs

The proposal would save costs by reducing the need for public authorities to maintain overlapping systems. A centralised system would also provide better protection for personal data. Information would be processed in a single secure system, and the processing of information would be subject to uniform legal provisions.

The government proposal is scheduled to be submitted to Parliament in the spring of 2025. The proposal supports the Government Programme’s objectives to strengthen crime prevention, combat the grey economy and prevent money laundering.

The project will be funded through the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Inquiries:

Milka Tornberg-Nyman, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 488 324, [email protected]