By Bart Meijer
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch banks ING (AS:INGA), ABN Amro (AS:ABNd) and Rabobank [RABOVR.UL] said on Wednesday they would join forces in the fight against money laundering by sharing transaction data.
Together with the smaller Volksbank and Triodos Bank, the three largest Dutch banks said they would establish an agency to monitor all their transactions, potentially making it easier to detect unusual patterns of behaviour.
"In addition to the banks' own responsibility as gate-keepers, effectively dealing with money laundering and the financing of terrorism requires a national approach", the Dutch banking association NVB said.
According to the NVB, around 16 billion euros ($18 billion) of criminal money is laundered through accounts in the Netherlands every year, placing the country among the top locations for money launderers in the world.
ING in 2018 paid a record fine of 775 million euros in a settlement with Dutch prosecutors after failing for years to spot money laundering and other criminal activities carried out through its accounts.
ABN Amro is awaiting the outcome of a similar investigation against it announced last year.