Featurespace Secures UK and US Government Funding for AI Financial Crime Prevention Solution

Machine learning experts have a technology edge due to unique fraud and risk industry experience

Cambridge, UK – 22 November 2022 Featurespace, the world leader in machine learning fraud and financial crime prevention technology, has secured funding from UK and US governments to build a new type of artificial intelligence (AI) system to help banks and payments service providers (PSPs) detect financial crime – whilst protecting data privacy.

The privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) Challenge Prize funding enables Featurespace to develop privacy-preserving solutions that allow AI models to be trained on sensitive private data – important for revealing criminal activity – without organisations having to reveal, share, or combine their raw data. The company will apply cutting-edge federated deep learning incorporating privacy enhancing techniques such as k-anonymity and local differential privacy to tackle financial crime.

The need for such an innovative tech solution is timely, as financial crime that impacts businesses, society and consumers is likely to rise due to the expected global recession and the cost of living crisis in 2023. Trade body UK Finance predicts an ‘epidemic of fraud’ happening, due to increases in authorised push payment (APP) fraud, which totalled £580m lost in 2021, representing a 40% year on year increase in this type of crime. Additionally, the United Nations estimates that money laundering costs up to US$2 trillion each year, undermining economic prosperity and financing organised crime.

Dr David Sutton, Featurespace’s Director of Innovation, commented: “UK and US governments want banks to work together to stop fraud and money laundering. This type of privacy-preserving collaborative AI is a hard problem that no-one has yet solved. We are confident we can meet this challenge. We’re the only company in this project that has deployed innovative tech to fight worldwide financial crime – and we have the banking customers to prove it.”

Featurespace’s solution is intended to help PSPs and banks tackle financial crimes including cross-border money laundering, application fraud and APP fraud.

Launched in July 2022, by Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – and National Science Foundation in the US, the scheme has awarded prize challenges to unleash the potential of PETs to combat global societal challenges. The first track – aimed at transforming financial crime prevention – will spur technological innovation to tackle the challenge of international money laundering.

This PETs project – which is backed by the international payments organisation SWIFT – can be harnessed to facilitate privacy-preserving financial information sharing and collaborative analytics, allowing anomalous payments to be identified without compromising the privacy of individuals.

Summing up the aims of the project, Dr David Sutton added: “A successful outcome of this project is to make money laundering across borders and between banks much more difficult. If you make it harder to launder money, you make criminal activities less profitable. This will benefit businesses, society and consumers.”

Featurespace now has until 24 January to build its AI prototype. If successful, the company’s solution will be showcased at the second Summit for Democracy in the US, which President Biden plans to convene in the first half of 2023.

Disclaimer - Important

THE WEBSITE YOU ARE SEEKING TO ACCESS IS MADE AVAILABLE BY CHRYSALIS INVESTMENTS LIMITED (THE “COMPANY“) IN GOOD FAITH AND IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE IS INTENDED FOR PERSONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM ONLY AND IN PARTICULAR IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (“EEA”), THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE ITS RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IS OR MAY BE UNLAWFUL.

Please read this notice carefully – it applies to all persons who view this website. Please note that the terms set out below may be altered or updated without notice. You should read the following provisions in full each time you visit the site.

The information on this website is intended for, and may be accessed only by, persons in the United Kingdom. Viewing the materials you are seeking to access may not be lawful in other jurisdictions.

The information on this website is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or the solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, securities. Any subscription for securities in the Company may be made only pursuant to a prospectus issued by the Company from time to time that will provide detailed information about the Company and the securities to be offered (the “Prospectus”). Particular attention should be paid to the “Risk Factors” section of the Prospectus which will highlight specific risks relating to the Company.

No securities of the Company have been or will be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act“) or under the securities laws of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, or to or for the account or benefit of any US person (within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act). In addition, the Company has not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States.

If you are not permitted to view this website or are in any doubt as to whether you are permitted to view this website, please exit this website immediately by clicking on the “Disagree” button below. The contents of this website must not be released or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, outside the United Kingdom and in particular in or into any Member State of the EEA, the United States, Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any other jurisdiction where the distribution of such materials would or may breach any applicable law or regulation or would require any registration or licensing within such jurisdiction. Persons receiving any such materials (including, without limitation, custodians, nominees and trustees) should observe these restrictions and must not, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, forward, distribute or send them in, into or from any jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom. Neither the Company, Jupiter Investment Management Limited (the “Investment Adviser”) nor their respective advisers accept any responsibility for any violation by any person of any of these restrictions.

Basis of access

Access to this website is for information purposes only. Any person seeking access to this website represents and warrants to the Company and the Investment Adviser that they are doing so for information purposes only. Making this website available does not constitute an offer to issue or sell or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy securities in the Company. Further, it does not constitute a recommendation by the Company or the Investment Manager or any associated company or any other person to subscribe for or buy securities in the Company. The information on this website is general in nature and does not in any way constitute investment, tax, legal or other advice.

None of the Company, the Investment Adviser or any other person has, or accepts, any responsibility or duty to update any information, document or announcement contained on this website and the Company reserves the right to add to, remove or amend any information available on this website at any time.

The information on this website is general in nature and may be subject to amendment and updating without notice. None of the Company, the Investment Adviser nor any other person guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information on this website and each such person disclaims all representations and warranties, whether express or implied, to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law and regulation. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the exclusion by such persons, to the greatest extent permitted by applicable law and regulation, of any and all liability for any direct, indirect, punitive, consequential, incidental, special or other damages, including, without limitation, loss of profits, revenue or data arising out of or relating to the provision of and your use of this website and its content.
Neither the Company, its directors, the Investment Adviser nor any other person accepts any responsibility in respect of any information contained on any other website which may be linked to or from this website.

Use of Cookies

The Company uses cookies to track where you are accessing this website from. For further details of the types of cookie we use please refer to our Privacy and Cookies policy.

Confirmation of understanding and acceptance of terms

Please select your country of residence:

By clicking on the “Agree” button below, you confirm, represent and warrant to the Company and to Merian that you are located in the United Kingdom and you agree that you will not forward, distribute or send any materials contained in this website to any person outside the United Kingdom.

I have read and understood the terms set out above, which I understand may affect my rights and I agree to be bound by those terms. By clicking on the “Agree” button below, I confirm that I am permitted to access the website.