Anyone who has worked in a bank, or has spent any length of time working with them, knows that technology silos are all too commonplace. Many banks have one system to process debit card payments, another for credit, a third for online banking, and the list goes on. The same applies for fraud prevention and detection, where many banks aren't yet taking a true enterprise view of a customer but instead trying to identify fraud on individual channels, which inevitably makes the detection slower and less accurate - for when fighting financial crime, information and knowledge really is power.

So I am heartened by the session I attended today in which the panellists of senior executives from major banks all agreed that sharing and centralising AML, sanctions, KYC and fraud prevention and detection are key in reducing costs and increasing success. I completely, wholeheartedly agree. The most important thing for the bank isn't maintaining silos or, dare I say it, the all-too-common politics that accompany them, it is about stopping the criminals and preventing fraud losses - both the banks' and their customers'.

I hope what they have seen and heard this week will really encourage banks to take a fresh look at how they are stopping all types of financial crime, and that the panellists today will continue to lead by example. Fraud isn't a competitive issue, it is something the whole industry needs to work together to prevent, and this could be the start of that process.