New York: Nasdaq Chair and CEO Adena Friedman has urged the United States to establish a National Fraud Strategy to strengthen efforts against financial crime, warning that artificial intelligence is enabling scammers to operate on an unprecedented scale.
Speaking at the American Banker Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance Conference in New York, Friedman said financial crime had become a multi-trillion-dollar global challenge that required coordinated action across industries.
She proposed a nationwide framework to improve cooperation between financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, telecommunications providers, technology companies and payment networks. The initiative, she said, would not require a new regulator or additional obligations for financial institutions.
Instead, the strategy would focus on responsible information sharing, common practices for preventing fraud and better coordination to disrupt criminal networks. Friedman also called for safeguards and clearer guidelines to encourage organisations to participate in existing public- and private-sector initiatives.
A key element of her proposal is enabling financial institutions to file joint Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), which are used to flag potentially suspicious financial transactions to authorities. She also stressed the importance of feedback from law enforcement agencies to improve the quality of future reports and strengthen investigations.
Friedman said closer collaboration between the private sector and law enforcement could help identify emerging threats, protect victims and disrupt criminal activity before further damage occurs.
She also advocated aligning the proposed National Fraud Strategy with a modernised anti-money laundering (AML) framework. According to Friedman, combining these efforts could create a more connected, intelligence-driven system for combating financial crime.
Her proposal comes amid growing concerns about the scale and sophistication of fraud schemes, particularly as criminals increasingly exploit digital technologies and AI-enabled tools. Friedman emphasised that the evolving nature of these threats makes it difficult for any single institution to address them independently.
The proposed strategy would seek to bring stakeholders together under a coordinated approach to fraud prevention, information exchange and law enforcement support.
