Ivar Laur (ET)
Head of data management team, Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit
SUMMARY:
Estonia topped the news in 2017-18 because of the Danske Bank money laundering scandal, which was described as the largest ever in Europe. Reflecting on the lessons learned in Estonia from the past, the representative of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit focuses on the work that has been done by the Estonian FIU to advance its data analytics capacity. Data analytics serve as eyes for every organisation and decision-making level. It helps to see, what happens around us, where should we focus our attention and resources and where not. There will never be enough resources and therefore choices need to be made. Proper analytics enable choices with minimum residual risk. At the strategic level it helps to set the focus, at the operational level it helps to see patterns and to understand, who is trying to hide illicit funds.
But all that does not happen by itself. For proper analytics the infrastructure, legal environment, tools, people, processes and data are needed. And all components need to be orchestrated in harmony.
IVAR LAUR BIO:
Over the last 20 Ivar Laur has worked on development of risk analysis systems based on mass data analytics. He has helped to develop risk management systems in tax and customs administrations in Estonia and other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. Ivar Laur is one of the architects of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s risk management system, which is currently one of the best ones in Europe. Ivar´s passion is to find messages from data and to create solutions, where data has to help decision makers at any level: from strategic to operational. Since 2022 Ivar Laur´s role has been to build up the ecosystem for strategic analysis at the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit.