On June 25, 2025, members of Mexico’s anti-financial crime (AFC) community attended the launch of the ACAMS Mexico Chapter―the most recent addition to ACAMS’ global network of more than 60 chapters. The goal of the ACAMS Mexico Chapter, which is the second chapter in Latin America, is to promote financial crime prevention and foster collaboration across the public and private sectors in the region’s second-largest economy.

The event, which was held in Mexico City, was attended by nearly 100 industry leaders, compliance experts and public officials. The event’s keynote speaker was U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, who stressed the importance of cooperation between the public and private sectors and highlighted the launch of the chapter as an exciting opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the Mexican and the U.S. AFC communities, especially given shared national security threats enabled by illicit financial flows.

The speaker lineup included Neil Sternthal, chief executive officer of ACAMS, and Roberto Amaro, Federal Tax Deputy Prosecutor of Investigations, who each joined Johnson in celebrating the launch of the chapter and discussing the specific opportunities and challenges of AFC efforts in Mexico.

The event concluded with a networking session which allowed event participants to meet and share ideas for future chapter events, with many attendees expressing interest in participating in chapter events or supporting them as speakers or sponsors. This certainly points to a promising future for the chapter in the years to come.

Mireya Valverde Okón, CAMS, co-chair of the ACAMS Mexico Chapter, advisor to the president at the National Banking and Securities Commission, Mexico City, Mexico, okon.mireya@gmail.com,

Gilberto Flores, member of the ACAMS Mexico Chapter, head of Financial Crime Risk and Discovery for Latin America, HSBC Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, gilberto.flores@hsbc.com.mx,