Coaf must be an independent entity. In response to a question about whether COF should be affiliated with the central bank, he said that the entity should be independent. The Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) – which is tasked with receiving, examining and identifying suspicious financial transactions – was previously under the umbrella of the central bank, but was transferred to the Ministry of Finance last year. “When he went to British Columbia, we understood that the ideal situation was to stay in British Columbia and then have his independence,” he said. He also said that the Council has a small number of employees, compared to others in the world, and needs to improve the allocation of resources to become more efficient.
Campos Neto also said that artificial intelligence will help fight financial crimes. Using artificial intelligence to analyze data, it will be possible, for example, to determine whether the cash flow of a gas station does not match the demand in the area in which it is located. AI can also be used to monitor bank accounts that receive transfers from digital fraud, for example.
There is little room in the budget for public safety problems. Citing data from the International Monetary Fund that analyzed the relationship between debt and GDP, the tax burden and the efficiency of public spending, he said Brazil has problems in all three dimensions. “We have less fiscal space, our burden is high, and our debt to GDP is larger than the emerging world, so there is little space.” He added that the solution involves using intelligence information and working with the private sector.
