The UK’s recently announced £121 million investment in quantum technology marks a timely and strategic move in the evolving fight against financial crime. The Napier AI / AML Index found that money laundering costs the global economy $5.2 trillion USD annually.
While financial institutions are just grappling with how AI can save illegal funds flowing out of the economy, technology continues to evolve. The UK backing into quantum computing brings to light the discussion of how this lesser-developed technology could provide a step-change in our ability to detect illicit financial flows.
How can quantum computing be used to detect financial crime?
Financial crime today is no longer about simple transactions between obvious bad actors. It involves intricate webs of seemingly legitimate activity, synthetic identities, and cross-border movement of funds that are expertly concealed.
Quantum computing, with its ability to process vast datasets and identify correlations at unprecedented speed, offers a real opportunity to unpick these hidden networks. Machine learning models running on quantum systems could, in theory, detect behavioural anomalies that go unnoticed today – uncovering laundering typologies that don’t yet have a name.
But, of course, as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. While we’re right to be excited about the possibilities, we must also confront the potential risks that come with any emerging technology. As with AI, quantum capabilities in the wrong hands, can easily be used to strengthen criminal operations. The time is now to think about the ways in which the criminals can misuse this technology, and come up with mitigation strategies.
Encouragingly, it’s not just technologists pushing the envelope. Regulators are becoming increasingly proactive too. HM Treasury’s recent consultation on strengthening the Money Laundering Regulations signals a renewed seriousness about the threat landscape. Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s AI Lab and RegTech forums have created important spaces for innovation to flourish responsibly. Collaborative projects such as the FCA’s synthetic data initiative, involving The Alan Turing Institute, Plenitude Consulting, and Napier AI, represent exactly the kind of cross-sector alignment we’ll need in the quantum era.
Such collaboration between regulators, industry, and technologists is essential if we’re to build tools that are both effective and ethically sound.
Learning from the AI rollout
We’ve seen what happens when powerful technologies are released into the world without sufficient guardrails. The open-source approach to AI has turbocharged innovation, but it’s also created a landscape in which malicious actors can access advanced tools as easily as those with good intentions.
With quantum, we have a unique opportunity to do things differently. Because the technology is still in its relative infancy, we can begin building ethical and security frameworks alongside its development.
This is not just a technical challenge – it’s a societal one. It will require coordinated thinking across industry, academia, government, and civil society. Governance, standards, and international cooperation must be prioritised just as highly as hardware breakthroughs.
Quantum computing could one day become one of the most powerful tools in the fight against money laundering. But it could also become its most dangerous enabler. Whether it becomes one or the other depends on the steps we take today. By thinking ahead, collaborating widely, and embedding ethics and security at every stage, we can ensure this transformative technology serves as a force for good.
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