The European Union has signed an agreement with the US that allows EU banking data to be transmitted via the SWIFT network to US authorities, permitting tighter control and tracking of potential terrorist financing, online news outlet Deutsche Welle reports. The agreement needs to be green lit by the European Parliament before it becomes effective.

The deal, which has undergone a number of revisions due to breach of consumer privacy concerns, stipulates that the EU will designate representatives who will be posted in the US Treasury Department to oversee the transfer of data concerning EU citizens to US investigators. Europol, the European Law Enforcement Organisation, will also be involved in ensuring a strict control on how confidential user data is managed.

Previous concerns raised by the European side have mainly had to do with the fact that SWIFT technology cannot not currently single out suspicious transactions from bulk data, the same source points out. This would mean that meaning financial information pertaining to any number of EU citizens could be made available to US investigators, analyzed and stored in the US for intervals up to five years.