Practical Solutions Archives

Practical Solutions, September 2020 - November 2020

A Practical Approach to PEP Risk Management

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 /Leave a comment

Managing risk associated with politically exposed persons (PEPs) is increasingly becoming an area of focus among financial institutions (FIs) around the world. This increase is due not only to changing regulatory requirements, but also to headlines that have cast many organizations in an unfavorable...

Practical Solutions

Three Ways KYC Defends Crypto Marketplaces From Financial Crime

September 3, 2020September 8, 2020 /Leave a comment

The crypto space has become popular not only for cryptocurrency enthusiasts but, unfortunately, for cybercriminals and fraudsters as well. Therefore, most crypto exchanges and marketplaces today employ know your customer (KYC) procedures. Although money services providers and other financial institutions (FIs) are required to adhere...

Practical Solutions, Special for the Web

FCC Testing Within the Banking Industry

September 1, 2020September 24, 2020 /Leave a comment

What is financial crime compliance (FCC) testing? A report by PwC uses the following definition, “Compliance testing can be defined as a periodic, independent and objective assessment of compliance-related processes and/or controls. The aim of compliance testing is to assess whether the elements, processes and...

Practical Solutions, Special for the Web

Six Best Practices to Enhance Your Bank’s FCC Testing Program

June 2, 2020June 2, 2020 /1 Comment

Within the banking industry, compliance testing involves assessing compliance-related processes and/or controls that can determine whether the bank’s compliance program is designed and operating appropriately.1 The compliance testing function includes activities focused on financial...

Practical Solutions, Special for the Web

Three Benefits of Converging Fraud and AML

April 6, 2020 /Leave a comment

The human mind is wonderful yet rather mysterious. What the mind looks for determines what it is able to see. Researchers who were looking into this phenomenon, known in the field as “inattentional blindness,” presented oncologists with radiology scans. The doctors, all of them...

March - May 2020, Practical Solutions

A Call for Better Cybercrime Investigation

March 10, 2020March 30, 2020 /Leave a comment

The financial sector is both a target and a tool for cybercriminals. Year after year, criminals syphon billions of dollars from financial institutions (FIs) and victimize customers through fraud and identity theft. Yet despite these staggering losses, cybercrime remains an unchecked scourge as criminals continuously...

March - May 2020, Practical Solutions

Deconstructing the OFAC Monolith

March 10, 2020 /Leave a comment

If one follows the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s A Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments1 (Framework document), one’s sanctions risk assessment is driven by details of a firm’s business, such as customers and other third parties, associated geographies, and goods and services exchanged. Therefore,...

Exclusive, Practical Solutions

Considerations for Building an MRA Validation Road Map

March 9, 2020March 16, 2020 /Leave a comment

Bank regulators issue Matters Requiring Immediate Attention1 and Matters Requiring Attention or Matters Requiring Board Attention2 (collectively referred to as MRAs) to financial institutions (FIs) to communicate supervisory concerns—such as a deviation from sound governance, internal controls and risk management principles, and/or noncompliance with laws...

Practical Solutions

Level Up: Video Games and AML

December 19, 2019March 10, 2020 /Leave a comment

Analyzing how the latest generation of console-based video games and smartphone application games have changed the employment of their financial transaction capabilities provides additional insight into user trends and data analytics. While some video game companies, particularly those with microtransaction features, handle a significant amount...

December 2019 - February 2020, Practical Solutions

Intelligent Automation—Challenging What is Possible in Sanctions Compliance

December 19, 2019 /Leave a comment

The debate over whether financial institutions (FIs) should pursue advanced technologies—including intelligent automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning—to drive sanctions compliance has shifted from “if” to “when, how and to what scale?” These technologies redefine what is possible in sanctions compliance by helping implement...

ACAMS Today

The Magazine for Career-minded Professionals in the Anti-Money Laundering Field

Crime in Plain Sight―1MDB

Combating Two Evils With the Same Tools

50 Years of BSA: From Dormancy to Zeal

Breaking Down Barriers to Combat the Illegal Wildlife Trade

The New ACAMS Brand: The Journey

Practical Solutions

A Practical Approach to PEP Risk Management

Three Ways KYC Defends Crypto Marketplaces From Financial Crime

FCC Testing Within the Banking Industry

Six Best Practices to Enhance Your Bank’s FCC Testing Program

Three Benefits of Converging Fraud and AML

A Call for Better Cybercrime Investigation

Deconstructing the OFAC Monolith

Considerations for Building an MRA Validation Road Map

Level Up: Video Games and AML

Intelligent Automation—Challenging What is Possible in Sanctions Compliance