TRACFIN Director Antoine Magnant Stresses Public-Private Partnerships to Combat Cybercrime and Protect Democracy at EAFCS

Antoine Magnant, director of TRACFIN, emphasized the importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in combating cybercrime to protect democracy during his keynote address at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit (EAFCS) held at the RDS. He highlighted the upcoming Paris Olympics, underscoring the critical need for data sharing among PPPs to counteract crime and terrorism effectively.

“Paris is about to host the Olympics, and we have to try to make the world welcome,” Mr. Magnant stated. “But there’s a lot of work to be done. The terrorist risk is very high. We are working very hard on these (terrorist) groups. We are also trying to check the ticketing system to see who buys tickets… to avoid attacks.”

He elaborated on the collaborative efforts with intelligence services and police in Paris, noting that PPPs are particularly useful in this domain. Magnant stressed that France is addressing "fraud without borders" through cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), which, while essential, is not the sole solution.

Among the threats facing France, he listed terrorism, money laundering, tax fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cryptocurrency crimes. “There is such a lot to be done to protect democracy,” he remarked, advocating for global PPP collaboration to maintain “a collective confidence in the states and the rule of law within society.”

“I’d like to speak to protect democracy,” he added. “The answer to this huge crisis might be we are not careful enough, and it could lead to a new lapse as there’s already been a civil lapse in societies. And this should get the highest attention from us.”

Magnant expressed the French Government's outrage over fraudsters exploiting State support schemes during and after the pandemic, making it a priority to bring these criminals to justice. “We spent dozens of billions of euros just in the last four years,” he noted. “Decisions were taken very quickly in a crisis context.”

“This is an important matter; we are trying to ID them with different tools that we have,” he added.

His speech underscored the growing importance of PPPs working together to combat crime, highlighting the urgent need for cooperation in protecting democratic societies.

By fLEXI tEAM