Trade Surveillance in 2025
From JPMorgan’s $450 million data governance fines to the high-profile manipulation and fraud conviction of Archego’s Bill Hwang, trade surveillance and abuse were center stage ...
Compliance
SARs That Count: Words Matter
When the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in September 2020, titled “Anti-Money Laundering Program Effectiveness,” it marked a significant shift in how anti-money When the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in...
SAR Optimization: Seeing the Forest Beyond the Trees
Suspicious activity reports (SARs) provide crucial intelligence that helps law enforcement develop cases, uncover assets and discover connections to investigate criminal networks. However, the sheer volume and complexity of SARs make them difficult to analyze efficiently. This article is the first part of a two-part...
SAR Optimization: An LE Perspective
This article is the second part of a two-part article on suspicious activity report (SAR) optimization for enhanced investigations. The first part of the article was published in the December 2024-February 2025 edition of ACAMS Today. Upstream analytics help optimize SAR data processing through entity...
AML/CTF Rules Guide—Executive Orders and the Rulemaking Process
This article, part two of an overview of the “notice and comment” process in rulemaking, will discuss the roles of Executive Orders and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the process, as well as the three stages of the process. The first part...
AML/CTF Rules Guide―Effective Public Commenting
On July 3, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published a proposed anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing “program” rule in the Federal Register. The publication gave the public notice of the proposed rule, invited the public to submit comments within 60 days, and provided a cost and...
Leveraging Strategic Intelligence in Cryptocurrency Compliance
The cryptocurrency space is evolving rapidly, making a cutting-edge compliance function essential. Instead of the reactive measures often used by traditional financial institutions and early crypto exchanges, the future lies in a proactive approach to compliance—one driven by the introduction of a strategic intelligence team....
The Changing Landscape of Auditing AI
Financial crime compliance has been a strategic priority for all financial institutions (FIs) globally. The increased dynamism in the business landscape and the enhanced use of digitization have exposed FIs to increased levels of financial crime compliance risk globally. Considering the same fact, regulators across...
The Use of AI and Machine Learning in Financial Crime Compliance
Nowadays, people often talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. “Artificial Intelligence is the field of developing computers and robots that are capable of behaving in ways that both mimic and go beyond human capabilities. AI enabled programs can analyze and contextualize data to...
Breaking Barriers in AFC: Recap of The Assembly Las Vegas
The ACAMS Assembly Las Vegas, held from September 23-25, 2024, at the Aria Resort and Casino, presented a variety of sessions addressing important anti-financial crime (AFC) topics such as cryptocurrency, compliance regulation, suspicious activity reports (SARs), artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI), the FTX...