2021 was another bumper year for fines slapped against financial institutions (FIs) for failures in anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. AML shortcomings in transaction monitoring are a global problem. Countries whose banks were hit with fines include the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, [...]
RegTech is getting more attention in the fintech ecosystem this year, alongside the surge in cross-border money transfers and expansion of digital transfer platforms. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of electronic payments is spiking both the volume and complexity of financial [...]
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Cyber Week, Black November, Christmas and New Year’s vacations, aka the commercial part of the “Holiday Season.” For shoppers, retailers, and holidaymakers, it’s one of the most satisfying times of the year. For banks and payment service providers, however, the [...]
Competition is heating up in the low-cost international money transfer business, with new fintechs putting pressure on the traditional MTOs and incumbent banks. It’s the 31st of the month. A migrant worker working in the Gulf waits in his employer’s office to receive his monthly wages. With [...]
Art is an increasingly attractive avenue for money launderers, and legislators have taken notice Deep in the night at a major European port, a high-end security company guard is on his shift in a warehouse watching over multi-million-dollar art pieces held in storage. Unbeknownst to him, one of the [...]
The first money laundering activities to run through mobile apps took place over ten years ago when 20 of the top 25 downloaded applications in the Danish Apple App Store were downloaded from China and cost between $50 and $100 each. The laundering activity was fairly simple. Criminals created the [...]
Correspondent banking is a vital system that helps to connect smaller and underdeveloped communities to the world’s financial ecosystem. In the last decade or so, the need for correspondent banking has boomed across the globe. The global pandemic further kicked this increase into overdrive, with [...]
On its surface, de-risking banking activities is a justifiable move. Rather than attempt to manage the risk, banks choose instead to avoid risk. With that move, they sidestep past onerous regulator penalties, reputation-tarnishing headlines, and angry shareholders and customers. The result, of [...]
There is a great romanticism about the unknown unknown. It sits there on the edge just beyond our knowledge and understanding. North America, before Columbus sailed there in 1492, was an unknown unknown to Europeans. Travels can take us to unknown places, and while there, we often find ourselves [...]
When I began my career, back in the late 90s, I was hyper-focused on rule-based technology and methodology. Rules represented our best chance at using automation to monitor transactions and prevent money laundering and other financial crimes. Two decades have passed, and it’s easy to see how [...]