Moody’s Talks: KYC Decoded – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode, KYC Decoded welcomes Derek Vadala, Chief Risk Officer at BitSight, who shares his insights on the intricacies of cyber risk, technology risk, and digital risk with host Alex Pillow. They explore the evolving nature of cyber threats, from financially motivated attacks to nation-state espionage, and discuss best practices for mitigating these risks through in depth defense strategies and ongoing monitoring. Derek emphasizes the criticality of a risk-based approach to supply chain due diligence and the importance of integrating cyber risk management into broader compliance frameworks.

Key takeaways:

• Cyber risk encompasses adversarial activities, technology issues, and digital transformation challenges, each requiring distinct mitigation strategies
• Financially motivated cyber criminals and nation-state actors use different tactics but can blur lines, necessitating vigilant, multifaceted defenses
• Effective cyber defense relies on automation and layered security measures, beyond just user education
• Integrating cyber risk management with overall compliance and due diligence processes enhances organizational resilience

To learn more about cyber related risk, please check out the resources below:

• Risky business podcast
• Cyber Security Headlines podcast

To learn how you can mitigate cyber-related risk in your organization, visit our website  and feel free to get in touch - we would love to hear from you.

This episode introduces the Data and Technology for Compliance (DT4C) Alliance, an industry group comprising leading data and technology companies focused on enhancing financial crime prevention in the EU. Host Alex Pillow, along with Ted Datta from Moody's, and Gem Conn from Dow Jones Risk and Compliance, discuss the Alliance's goals, key initiatives, and the impact they have had so far, including the inclusion of high-quality data standards in AML regulations.

They explore how the alliance works in practice, the balance between data privacy and AML effectiveness, and the broader implications for risk and compliance professionals. For more information or to get involved, listeners are encouraged to visit the DT4C website www.dt4calliance.eu, email the secretariat@dt4calliance.eu or reach out to the contributors on LinkedIn.

Open finance, API banking, Payment Services Directive (PSD2)...the concept of open banking can be called many things. But how exactly is this technology changing the world for risk and compliance professionals today and what potential does it have to mold the profession going forward?

Join us for another episode of KYC Decoded as we welcome Alessio Balduini, CEO and founder of Credit Data Research, and Francis Marinier, former banking compliance officer and now Moody’s KYC Industry Practice Lead, who together unpack the topic of open banking and its implications for the financial industry. Key questions explored include:

• What is open banking and how long has it been around?
• What opportunities does open banking provide for risk and compliance professionals?
• What does adoption of open banking look like?
• Are there any potential risks associated with open banking?
• How might bad actors respond to the rise of open banking?

If you would like more information on open banking, be sure to check out these resources:

• Open Banking Impact Report
• Open Banking Limited (OBL)
• Credit Data Research
• "Evolution of Open Finance: A Focus on the European and Italian Landscapes", International Banker
• "Open Finance ecosystem could end money laundering in sports betting in Brazil", Games Magazine Brazil

Visit our website to learn how you can take your compliance program to the next level. Please feel free to reach out – we would love to hear from you.

What if your anti-financial crime program could build investigation models using sensitive data you may not have direct access to – in a totally compliant way? In this episode, we learn from Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) expert, Michael Hughes, Chief Business Offer at Duality Technologies, about the potential PETs have to change the game of KYC.

Follow along as Michael and host, Alex Pillow, discuss all things PETs, exploring topics like:

• The value PETs could bring to the world of AFC
• Privacy rights of an individual vs. useful data for institutions
• Various PET use cases
• How regulatory bodies feel about the rise of PETs
• Industry sectors that have become early adopters of PETs (the answer may surprise you)

For additional resources mentioned in this episode, check out the links below on Duality’s website:

• Zero footprint investigations
• Collaborative AI

Visit our website to learn how Moody’s Compliance and third-party risk management can take AFC in your organization to the next level, and please feel free to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you!

It is safe to say technology has done wonders when it comes to AML professionals tackling financial crime, but, on the flip side, it is important to understand how technology is being used by those committing the crimes.

From video game online marketplaces to virtual currency mixers, how can we follow the money when tech is used to cover its tracks?

In this episode of KYC Decoded, we welcome back esteemed guest, Geoff White, investigative journalist and author of the upcoming book, Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World’s Deadliest Crooks.

Get an inside look at some of the crimes that are featured in Rinsed, and listen as Geoff and host, Alex Pillow, explore questions like:

• How has the digitization of currency impacted the way criminals launder money?
• Is there a future where crypto can be crime-free?
• What role does social media play for bad actors?
• Should technology companies be held accountable for how money launderers use them?

Rinsed is available for preorder and will be published on June 13, 2024. To take the AML and compliance programs in your organization to the next level, be sure to check out our website and get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.

Change is essential to survive and thrive in any enterprise. As we narrow in on the world of AML and KYC, the adaptation of sophisticated criminals is evident, so the question arises: what disruptions are needed to outsmart these bad actors? In this episode of KYC Decoded, Head of Strategy & Content at Sardine, Simon Taylor, lends us his astute and perceptive expertise as we explore this questions further. 

You won’t want to miss this energetic and educational conversation with host, Alex Pillow. Their wide-ranging discussion covers topics like:

• The different areas of KYC and AML that have the greatest opportunities for disruption
• The role of advancing technologies and how they might be used in particular use cases
• How change could impact industry professionals

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, be sure to check out the recommended resources mentioned in the show:

• Sardine.ai webinars
• Sardine.ai blog
• Follow Soups Ranjan on LinkedIn

If you are a change-maker looking to disrupt the KYC and AML processes in your organization, be sure to visit our website and get in touch – we would love to hear from you.
 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 set off a series of global sanctions enforcement actions. The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has meted out sanctions to curb Russia’s defense procurement, energy weaponization, and international trade activity. To date, the EU has also imposed 12 sanctions packages on restrictive measures – with the 13th to be formally approved in February.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Andrea Viski, founder and director of the Strategic Trade Research Institute and editor-in-chief of the Strategic Trade Review, on how the global sanctions environment has changed since the invasion, and where the biggest risks in sanctions-related financial crime lie.

This conversation covers topics including:

• The impact of sanctions packages on Russia’s economy – where the sanctions have been effective in disconnecting Russia from global trade and economic activity
• How the global sanctions environment has changed since the invasion
• New challenges KYC and AML professionals now face, and how they can mitigate sanctions-related risks
• The latest sanctions evasion trends and red flags

For additional resources mentioned in this episode, visit:

• WorldECR
• Strategic Trade Review

If you want to better detect sanctions-related risk in your organization, visit our website, read our latest whitepaper on sanctions, and get in touch with one of our experts – we’d love to hear from you.

The creation of the AMLA, the authority on money laundering in the European Union, is imminently upon us. And the critical question compliance professionals are wondering is: where will it live? Choosing an EU city to be the representative of 26 different cultures most certainly has needed careful thought and planning. The official location choice is set to be announced February 22, 2024, in the meantime we check in with Francis Marinier, Moody’s Analytics Financial Crime and Compliance Industry Practice Lead, to discuss his predictions.

Follow along to hear more about:

• What the AMLA is and why it was formed
• Why cities would want to be home to the AMLA
• What the European Parliament must consider when selecting a location
• Pros and cons of potential host cities such as Frankfurt, Madrid, Paris, and Dublin

For more information, visit the AML Intelligence website, where you can also check back in on February 22 for the final decision. To find out how Moody’s Analytics AML solutions can help your organization, please visit our website and get in touch.

Much has changed since we last visited the US Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) in March of 2023 on KYC Decoded. Now that FinCEN has officially rolled out its beneficial ownership database, what is the lay of the land for risk and compliance professionals? In this episode, we welcome back Jim Richards, former BSA officer, author, speaker, and CEO of RegTech Consulting to share his thoughts on where we are now, where there is room for improvement, and just how useful this database will be when combatting financial crime.

Key highlights of this educational discussion include:

• Jim’s time testifying before US congress in June of 2023
• The current limitations around access to the database
• The types of organizations that are exempt from the database
• The level of threat the database poses – or doesn’t pose – to financial criminals in both the short term and longer term
• Suggestions on how FinCEN should move forward

If you would like to find out more about the work Jim Richards does or the CTA, please check out our recommended resources:

• Jim Richards’s personal blog
• FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information
• Moody’s content on Ultimate Beneficial Ownership

If you are looking for deeper insight into who you are doing business with, learn more on our website and feel free to get in touch.

There are plenty of shell companies formed for legitimate reasons. However, as recently uncovered in a major case in Singapore where 3 billion SGD of assets were frozen, shell companies can also be used for more nefarious purposes. This risk is not always easy to spot, especially when relying on manual, time-invasive processes.

In this episode KYC Decoded, host Alex Pillow welcomes Moody’s Analytics Product Manager, Kate Weymouth, and Head of the Financial Crime Practice Group for APAC and the Middle East, Choon Hong Chua.

Their dynamic and educational conversation around shell companies and their risks includes:

• Legitimate reasons for shell companies vs. illegitimate reasons
• The seven primary indicators of shell company risk
• A deeper look into the recent Singapore shell company scam
• How Moody’s Shell Company Indicator automates traditionally manual and time consuming processes with powerful data

For additional resources mentioned in this conversation, be sure to check out:

• FATF paper ‘Best Practices on Beneficial Ownership for Legal Persons’
• FATF paper, ‘Concealment of Beneficial Ownership’
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ‘Effective Practices to Detect and Mitigate the Risk from Misuse of Legal Persons’
• ‘Risky business? The seven indicators of shell company risk’ data visualization
• Seven indicators of shell company risk blog

If you would like to know more about how Shell Company Indicator can better identify shell company risk in your organization, please visit our website and feel free to get in touch. We would love to hear from you.