Sorainen advised Salv Technologies, an anti‑money-laundering technological tool startup, in the process of mapping out the legal basis for cross-border information-sharing between financial institutions and presented the findings to Salv’s partners in a virtual workshop which included the representatives of the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Our financial regulatory and data protection experts carried out a legal analysis and developed a comprehensive matrix mapping out the legal basis in Estonia and Latvia for cross-border information sharing between EU and UK financial institutions using Salv Bridge. The regulation in this area is fragmented and will remain somewhat unclear across the European Union until proposed new anti-money-laundering regulation comes into effect, which will be 2027 at the earliest.

Salv Bridge safeguards against fraud and anti-money-laundering

Salv is the provider of the software platform Salv Bridge, which financial institutions (banks and fintech companies) can use for information sharing for anti-money-laundering purposes. Salv Bridge helps to identify and stop the flow of illicit funds within the financial system in a more timely and efficient manner. The founders of Salv are Taavi Tamkivi, Jeff McClelland and Sergei Rumjantsev, who built the anti-money-laundering, fraud and KYC tools and teams at Wise and Skype.

A fair balance between fundamental rights and public interest

The result of the analysis was a framework of legal bases for financial institutions to consider and carefully weigh in each case when using Salv Bridge, in order to strike a fair balance between the fundamental rights (the rights to the protection of personal data and private life) and the important public/legitimate interest in combating money laundering in the financial systems. Following the completion of the matrix in Estonia and Latvia, input was also received from the United Kingdom. The findings of the legal mapping were presented to the existing and potential partners of Salv in a virtual workshop, including representatives of the European Commission and the Council of Europe who presented the background and updates regarding legal developments in this sphere.

Our services and client team

Our team included partner Mihkel Miidla, counsel Jane Eespõld, senior associate Liisa Maria Kuuskmaa and associate Krista Ševerev.