INTESA SANPAOLO AND THE ANTI-FINANCIAL CRIME DIGITAL HUB:
PUBLIC–PRIVATE COOPERATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AS KEY TOOLS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST FINANCIAL CRIME

• First pilot project in Italy for public–private cooperation to identify money laundering and terrorist financing risk patterns and to test innovative models for detecting suspicious transactions, developed by Intesa Sanpaolo and the AFC Digital Hub together with the Guardia di Finanza, the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, the Bank of Italy and the Financial Intelligence Unit.
• An algorithm developed using artificial intelligence techniques, tested by Intesa Sanpaolo, leading to the identification of more than 30 cases of potential tax fraud across Italy.
• Piero Boccassino: “Thanks to new European anti-money laundering legislation, which sets out the criteria under which banks will be able to share data on higher-risk customers, important new opportunities for system-wide cooperation are emerging, with the aim of more effectively countering criminal activities that rely on complex schemes involving multiple financial operators.”

Turin-Milan, 21 April 2026 – Last week, at the OGR conference centre in Turin, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Anti-Financial Crime Digital Hub – the consortium formed by the Bank together with the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Centre, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Turin – held a workshop on public-private cooperation and the use of artificial intelligence in combating financial crime.

At the event, Intesa Sanpaolo and the AFC Digital Hub presented the results of a pilot partnership project developed in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, in collaboration with the Guardia di Finanza’s Economic and Financial Police Unit, the Anti-Mafia Investigative Directorate, the Bank of Italy’s Anti-Money Laundering Supervision and Regulatory Unit, and the Financial Intelligence Unit. The project aimed to identify types of money laundering and terrorist financing risks and to test innovative models for detecting suspicious transactions using artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on tax fraud schemes involving false invoicing.

The pilot project represented the first significant public–private partnership initiative in Italy aimed at combating financial crime. Following its outcome, the Bank of Italy, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Italian Banking Association launched a nationwide partnership involving all major Italian banks.

The collaboration between Intesa Sanpaolo, the AFC Digital Hub, the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Centre, the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Turin enabled the sharing of technologies and expertise and led to the development of artificial intelligence solutions aimed, in particular, at monitoring transactions through the creation of dedicated algorithms.

The event at OGR Turin was opened by Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo, General Virgilio Pomponi, Interregional Commander for North-West Italy of the Guardia di Finanza, and Piero Boccassino, Chairman of the Anti-Financial Crime Digital Hub. Contributions followed from General Alessandro Langella, Head of the Guardia di Finanza’s Economic and Financial Police Unit in Turin; Sebastiano Laviola, Head of the Anti-Money Laundering Supervision and Regulation Unit at the Bank of Italy; Tommaso Pastore, Head of the Turin Office of the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate; Enzo Serata, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit for Italy; and Veronika Vavrova, Head of Operational Governance at the Italian Banking Association. Also attending the event was Nick Maxwell, Head of the Future of Financial Intelligence Sharing Programme at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

“Our public-private partnership initiative has led to the development of an algorithm based on artificial intelligence techniques, which Intesa Sanpaolo has tested on over 40,000 corporate customers in the regions of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, enabling the identification of more than 30 cases of potential tax fraud across Italy,” stated Piero Boccassino, Chair of the Anti-Financial Crime Digital Hub. “The Guardia di Finanza, the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate, the Bank of Italy and the Financial Intelligence Unit played a crucial role in developing the algorithm, providing input on parameter definition based on their operational experience.  Thanks to new European anti-money laundering legislation, which sets out the criteria under which banks will be able to share data on higher-risk customers, important new opportunities for system-wide cooperation are emerging, with the aim of more effectively countering criminal activities that rely on complex schemes involving multiple financial operators.”

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Media Relations

Intesa Sanpaolo

Corporate & Investment Banking and Governance Areas

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com

www.intesasanpaolo.com/it/news