“Partners in Crime”

Partners in Crime

Many of us have our go-to person with whom we enjoy spending time or who we can call out of the blue and are always willing to accompany us whether we are planning some adventure, or merely want to go try a new restaurant. In the colloquial sense, these types of people can be referred to as our “partners in crime.”

Throughout my life, I have had many “partners in crime.” When I was a child, my partner in crime was my sweet cat. As I grew older, my good friend, Heather, was my go-to person. Fast-forward a few more years, and in college, I met my most adventurous partner in crime―Sheyla. The list goes on and each of my partners in crime had one thing in common: They were willing to ride into the sunset with me, much like a proverbial Sundance Kid to my Butch Cassidy or a Robin to my Batman. As we look at the headline article titled “Partners in AFC,” we are introduced to a new set of partners in fighting financial crime. The article meticulously outlines the importance of partnerships with law enforcement (LE), other financial institutions and even attorneys. Building a network or contact list with partners that you can connect with when fighting financial crime is of immense importance in the anti-financial crime (AFC) sector.

For this edition, I was fortunate enough to interview two stalwart individuals who are not merely talking the talk about partnerships but are walking the walk by their actions. Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami delineated how being part of the El Dorado Task Force (EDTF)―a group comprised of many government and LE partners―has contributed to the immense success of stopping financial crime in South Florida. Salisbury even highlighted the importance of partnerships with other countries. He went on to say: “Our partners are critical for us to be able to identify and combat all forms of money laundering.” Read more details about the intriguing work of EDTF-South in this informative interview.

The next interview with Deputy Assistant Director of HSI Steven Schrank also stressed the importance of partnerships and detailed how HSI shows it through their actions. HSI established the Cross-Border Financial Crime Center (CBFCC), which will combine many different U.S. government agencies under one roof and formalize the framework to bring these partners together. The CBFCC will be located in Washington, D.C., and will be the new hub for public-private partnerships combating financial crime. In addition, the CBFCC will spearhead HSI’s expansion of EDTFs across the U.S. Shrank also spoke about the four pillars that make up the essence of the CBFCC. Read more within the interview to learn about the pivotal importance of partnerships and the significant role the CBFCC will play in thwarting financial crime.

Within any partnership, communication is key. In the article titled “Building a Communication Bridge Between LE and FIs,” David Tyree stated that “successful collaboration in any relationship is built upon open and honest communication.”

The ACAMS Today team would like to recognize and congratulate Kieran Beer, ACAMS’ chief analyst and director of editorial content, for reaching the outstanding milestone of 500,000 downloads for his “Financial Crime Matters” podcast. Read more about his favorite interviews and what is next for the podcast in this edition.

Also, make sure to cast your vote for the ACAMS Today Article of the Year. Visit the ACAMS Awards web page to vote for the most memorable article of 2023.

Working on the ACAMS Today Partnership Edition is one of the highlights of my year. My team and I have the opportunity to collaborate with various individuals who are working in the colloquial sense with their “partners in crime” to make a significant difference in the fight against financial crime.

Karla Monterrosa-Yancey, CAMS
Editor-in-Chief
Follow us on : @acamstoday,

Leave a Reply