To work on complex fraud cases, the bank RBS will provide specialist advice to City of London Police under the force’s new Corporate Volunteer Consultancy Scheme.
Through its remit as the National Policing Lead for Fraud and protector of the Square Mile, City of London take on some of the most high profile economic crime often with a cyber element. The force says that its detectives are highly trained in this field but the force recognises the benefit of having input from financial institutions in areas such as equities and markets, financial instruments, international jurisdictions, cyber technology and foreign languages.
RBS staff will assist the force’s Economic Crime Directorate on a voluntary basis, supporting training events and research and development projects. However, the force adds, the bank staff will not be involved in any operational police activity and will not be asked to advise on information relating to specific investigations.
Commissioner Adrian Leppard, who is the National Policing Lead for Fraud, said: “Entering into this volunteer scheme will give the force access to the type of expertise and advice that will greatly assist our detectives when dealing with the most complex and challenging cases of economic crime, building on the support we already receive from our Special Constabulary and other force volunteers. Signing this agreement with RBS, which we hope will be the first of many with the financial sector, means we can now tap into their massive knowledge base of financial products and digital technology and use their foreign language skills, which reflects the increasingly international dimension of economic crime investigation.”
Emma Smith, Head of Security, Resilience and Control at RBS, said: “Protecting the safety and security of our customers and staff is a top priority as we work towards making RBS the most trusted bank by 2020. I am delighted to have signed this agreement and look forward to working closely with the City of London Police in their fight against financial crime. The experience and expertise of our employees will help safeguard our customers and others.”
All requests for assistance from City of London Police to RBS will go through a single point of contact at the bank.
