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.

Every year, on January 11, the US recognizes National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Human trafficking – currently a $150 billion industry – continues to be a pervasive threat around the globe, with criminals profiting from the enslavement of other people. This brings us to the obvious question: what can anti-financial crime and risk professionals do to make this world a safer place and help put an end to this abhorrent practice?

In this episode, we delve into this pressing issue with experts: Christopher Kemp, Director of Enterprise Operations at the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative; Chris Bagnall, Solutions Director at Quantexa; and Karim Rajwani, Head of Product at Sigma360. Their conversation sheds an important light on dealing with this crime, focusing on:

• The primary forms of human trafficking
• The staggering scale of the problem
• Strategies and solutions to stop it
• The role of data and technology in empowering professionals to dismantle trafficking networks
• Immediate, actionable steps we can implement to make a difference

To learn more about this important topic, we encourage you to explore these additional resources:

• Webinar, ‘Breaking Chains with AI: Advanced Detection of Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Networks’
• ACAMS Article of the Year, ‘Understanding Human Trafficking’
• ACAMS Back to the Basics
• ACAMS Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking course
• Blog, ‘Decision Intelligence is the Key To Stopping Modern Slavery And Human Trafficking’
• The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAP)
• Wear Blue Day campaign
• Polaris website
• UN Office on Drugs and Crime Human Trafficking website
• Stop the Traffik website
•  US Department of State Understanding Human Trafficking fact sheet
• Freedom United website
• INTERPOL website
• Government of Canada Operational Alert
• Government of Canada Updated Indicators
• WeProtect Project Shadow

Find other ways your organization can help combat human trafficking - visit our website - and please feel free to get in touch; we would love to hear from you.

"Fighting financial crime" has long been a rallying cry within the AML profession, but could this way of thinking actually be doing us all a disservice? While an admirable goal for any compliance risk management program, it may actually be too limiting and overlook how the BSA Officer/MLRO role can also drive business strategy and growth.

In this episode of KYC Decoded, host Alex Pillow welcomes Vic Maculaitis, 3-time board-appointed BSA officer and founder of i3strategies, a consultancy that works to modernize the financial crime risk and compliance ecosystem. This provocative and candid conversation explores:

• The primary responsibility of a BSA officer
• Outcomes over checkboxes
• Compensation for compliance officers
• How generative AI plays into the future of the industry

For resources discussed during this episode, be sure to check out:

• The LinkedIn post that inspired this conversation
• Perspective, by i3strategies

If you’d like to level up your compliance program, visit our website and reach out for more information. We’d love to hear from you.

As digital assets continue to evolve and enrich investment portfolios, they simultaneously demand innovative anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance strategies to counteract potential exploitation by bad actors. There is a critical need for financial service firms to adapt to these changes, understanding the money laundering risks tied to crypto.  

In this episode of KYC Decoded, we are joined by Liat Shetret, Director of Global Policy and Regulation at Elliptic, and Karmjeet Singh, Product Strategist at Moody’s, who together unravel the pivotal role of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) in navigating and addressing these emerging challenges in the digital economy. Key topics of their conversation include: 

• The rapid evolution and developments of the VASP and cryptocurrency ecosystem in recent years 
• The sophistication and complexities of criminal activity in the digital world 
• Strategies to effectively manage the challenges posed by VASP 
• How compliance officers balance dual roles of safeguarding against risk while facilitating organizational growth 
• Predictions on future crypto market trends and their implications for risk and compliance professionals 

For additional resources: 

• Read Elliptic’s blog
• Sign up for Elliptic’s newsletter
• Listen to KYC Decoded’s Crypto Miniseries: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

To learn more about our VASP screening for your organization, please feel free to reach out – we would love to hear from you! 

Our KYC origin series has traced the journeys of our diverse acquisitions, each of which has grown into a vital part of our KYC ecosystem.

But how have these distinct entities been integrated to operate as one?

In the grand finale of our KYC origin series, host Alex Pillow engages with Keith Berry, the KYC General Manager at Moody’s Analytics. They explore the expansion of the KYC unit, examining its evolution to become an industry-leading solution provider that has transformed risk and compliance.

They cover:

• The rationale for KYC and its inception
• The challenge of aligning to one mission and vision
• The ‘secret sauce’ of Moody’s Analytics KYC
• Transformational changes advancing the business
• The role of AI and machine learning in our product suite
• The future for KYC

Visit our website for more information on KYC and compliance!

With information on more than 472+ million entities worldwide, Orbis has become the most powerful comparable data resource on private companies. But the question isn't what happened, it's HOW?

In this episode of our KYC origin series, host Alex Pillow is joined by Bureau van Dijk and and Orbis veterans, Jon Hanmer and Ted Datta who discuss the evolution of this industry-defining database and how it became an indispensable tool for understanding the global corporate landscape.

Highlights from this episode include:

• The journey and growth of Bureau van Dijk the business
• Answering the "so what?" through the integration of data and insight
• Drivers stimulating the huge growth in Orbis for KYC and compliance use cases
• The importance of UBO to Orbis customers
• Infusing Orbis into the Moody’s Analytics family
• The future of Orbis for KYC within Moody and it's impact on tools such as Shell Company Indicator and Entity Verification API

Listen along and learn more about how Orbis can help you effectively manage risks and make better KYC decisions on our website.

In November 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) sparked a seismic shift in the regulatory landscape with its ruling that the public should not have access to beneficial ownership registries.

Join us as we delve into the ripple effects of this ruling with our guests, Maíra Martini, research and policy expert on corrupt money flows at Transparency International, and Andres Knobel, lawyer and senior researcher at the Tax Justice Network, along with host, Alex Pillow.

This conversation sheds light on:

• Why the ruling may have came about
• The impacts the decision had on financial crime fighters and the bad actors they pursue
• How companies and KYC professionals can navigate through this new reality

For recommended resources that accompany this episode, check out:

• Roadmap to Effective Beneficial Ownership Transparency (REBOT)
• The state of play of beneficial ownership registration in 2022
• Reforming Global Standards on Beneficial Ownership Transparency campaign page

Visit out our website for more information on UBOs, and do not hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.

We’ve all heard rumblings about the potential bias-related risks AI can bring when models aren't properly trained or governed with plentiful, high-quality data. But, how many of us have paused to consider flipping this paradigm? Could our own bias on the subject of AI cause us to overlook how consciously-infused AI technologies could remove dangerous biases from our KYC and AML processes?

In this thought-provoking conversation, host Alex Pillow discusses the topic with AI and ethics expert, Anna Nicolis, senior manager at Braithwate, who specializes in helping global institutions with risk and compliance challenges.

Highlights of this episode include:

• A look at what the word “bias” really means
• The root causes of bias in society and within AI technologies
• Where AI has potential to help eliminate bias in the compliance lifecycle
• The role humans and data play in governing AI models

For a deeper dive into what was discussed, check out some of these recommended resources:

• Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) report, Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Opportunities for Compliance
• Information on the upcoming EU AI Act
• Future of Life Institute
• Research conducted by Moody’s Analytics on the attitudes, adoption, and use cases for AI in the world of risk management and compliance

The rapid evolution and adoption of AI technologies raises questions about how it's perceived and used by professionals working in compliance and risk management.

In this episode, we explore the findings from a fascinating original global study, conducted by Moody’s Analytics, that uncovers how compliance and risk management professionals see the role of AI in all its forms.

Listen along as host, Alex Pillow, and Paul Nola, Partner at Context Consulting, dissect the findings and discuss the implications of those navigating the AI landscape in the world of risk and compliance.

Highlights from the episode include: 

• The origins of the study
• The importance of AI for compliance professional
• Significant and surprising findings
• The advantages and risks of using AI in compliance
• The challenges of AI regulation.

For additional information, register for our webinar: Navigating the AI landscape: insights from compliance and risk management leaders.

If you're interested in building an AI-led compliance program, contact us to learn more about our intelligent screening solution.

In a world of tight deadlines, diverse client needs, and ever-changing regulations across jurisdictions, law firms everywhere face countless challenges to stay compliant. That's why we are thrilled to be joined by Maire-Claire Le Houerou, Client Experience Director for Risk and Compliance at the software company Intapp, and Alex Young, Senior Principal Consultant at Intapp in this episode of KYC Decoded. Their deep expertise and vibrant energy on this topic make for a compelling conversation.

Here's of what was explored in this episode:

• How are AML checks conducted when onboarding legal clients?
• Does generative AI have a role now and in the future to shape compliance programs in the legal industry?
• What qualities and best practices in a law firm’s culture drive AML forward?
• What are some of the benefits of high-quality data management software?

For additional resources discussed in this episode, be sure to check out:

• Bressler Risk Blog
• The Law Society AML resources
• The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money by Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer

To find out about Moody’s Analytics' AML solutions for the legal sector, please go to our website.

Feeling stressed in the workplace is a shared experience for employees in many industries. And while it's normal for jobs to involve stress, concerns about employee burnout occur when stress is persistent and begins to affect the individual at a professional, personal, physical, and/or emotional level.

In this episode of KYC Decoded, we focus on the factors that lead to burnout in the compliance profession.

• What is burnout?
• What leads to compliance employee burnout?
• What can leaders do to address the issue?

Host Alex Pillow is joined by Lisa Beth Lentini Walker, former compliance officer and current assistant general counsel of Marqeta and CEO and founder of Lumen Worldwide Endeavors, and Jill DeWitt, current Industry Practice Lead at Moody’s Analytics KYC. Their conversation raises awareness of this often overlooked problem in the compliance world.

For additional resources, check out:

• Lisa Beth Lentini Walker’s book, Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice
• Lisa Beth Lentini Walker’s articles on wellbeing and stress relief in the workplace

Every business has a unique story to share about its life-journey. In this third installment of our KYC Origin series, host Alex Pillow is joined by Henry Irish, co-founder of Passfort; and Alex Richter, Head of Passfort. Their discussion explores the SaaS RegTech solution that changed the way anti-financial crime and compliance processes were automated.

Listen to find out about:

• The inception of Passfort
• Adaptation of sophisticated, complex customer onboarding
• How the service adds value
• Why Passfort's acquisition came about
• Achievements and opportunities for Passfort since acquisition
• The future of the platform

Visit the Moody’s Analytics KYC website for more information on how Passfort can help your business with customer onboarding and perpetual KYC.

Curious how the Moody’s Analytics KYC solution originated? Don't miss the incorporation of Kompany into the Moody’s family. The strategic acquisition of Kompany has proven a win-win opportunity. From a business concept sketched on a tennis ball (yes, a tennis ball) to real-time entity verification from government registers across the globe merged with powerful datasets.

In this episode, host Alex Pillow is joined by Johanna Konrad, former COO of Kompany, now heading this line at Moody’s Analytics KYC as Managing Director; and Peter Bainbridge-Clayton, co-founder and former CTO of Kompany, who is now Senior Director for software engineering in Moody’s Analytics KYC. This important chapter in the Moody’s Analytics journey highlights:

• The challenges of creating a scalable data solution when aggregating information from vastly differing jurisdictions
• The not-so-simple task of entity verification
• Building a skilled team to tackle specialized needs
• The added benefit of real-time data to keep up with rapidly evolving legislation
• Digitalizing onboarding processes
• How the powerful integration of Kompany can continue to propel Moody’s Analytics KYC solutions going forward

Follow along, and be sure to learn more about how Kompany can help you solve the challenges of anti-money laundering compliance and KYB on our website.

The story of how Moody’s Analytics developed its KYC solution is one written by different authors. In our KYC Origins series, host Alex Pillow introduces different characters from strategic acquisitions to tell the tales of how their anti-financial crime and risk management businesses were founded, grew, and then joined the Moody's family. 

Chapter one: Grid. Rupert de Ruig, senior director at Moody’s Analytics KYC, narrates the events that led to formation of an industry consortium, which evolved into a solution that changed the way risk screening is implemented globally.

Settle in for a tale involving:

• The evolution of SaaS
• Learning what works (and crucially what doesn’t)
• How adverse media screening can reduce the cost of fraud
• The mission to reduce false positives
• The development of AI in screening
• Finding a home at Moody’s

Listen in to this episode and look out for others in the KYC Origins series.

Some of the most crucial actors in the world of regulatory compliance exist within the public sector. But, with so many private sector players gathering data and making risk-based decisions, how can the two groups bridge any divides to overcome increasingly sophisticated criminals?

In this episode of KYC Decoded, host Alex Pillow is joined by public sector colleagues Linda Hamilton, Deputy Director of Organised Crime in Fraud Investigations Service at the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), and Kevin Newe, Illicit Finances Threat Lead from HMRC. Their engaging conversation provides unique perspectives on questions like:

• Why is there a need to invest more in preventing economic crime and money laundering?
• How can we strike a balance between a public-private sector feedback loop and preserving confidentiality?
• What do good public-private partnerships look like and are there opportunities for improvement?
• When combatting financial crime, where should the public sector take the lead and where the private sector?
• How should data and technology vendors be involved with their private sector partners and the public sector?
• What makes a good SAR and what can be said about software that automates writing them?

To learn more about what was discussed in this episode, be sure to check out these additional resources:

• UK Financial Intelligence Unit
• Financial Action Task Force risk trends and methodologies
• FATF Annual Report 2020-2021
• National Economic Crime Centre

And, if you’d like to see how Moody’s Compliance and third-party risk management can help you with AML, please visit our website or get in touch; we’d love to hear from you.

Perhaps it goes without saying that customers of financial institutions who are politically exposed persons (PEPs) come with varying degrees of risk. In addition to their elevated political status, which can make them attractive targets for bribery and corruption, there’s also the subsequent institutional risk of reputational damage and fines from getting your dealings with PEPs wrong. Sometimes you might hear someone refer to needing some "PEP screening" as it if it's a simple process, but even the definition of what constitutes a PEP and the regulation surrounding it is far from one-size-fits-all.

In this episode, we are very pleased to welcome PEP experts Colleen Dychdala, Head of PEP data and premium content for Moody’s Analytics KYC, along with Eric Almbladh, who built the preeminent PEP database for the Nordic region - Bogard, which was acquired by Moody’s in 2021. Their conversation with host, Alex Pillow, tackles the complexities of PEP risk management programs, including:

• The many nuances of what constitutes a PEP and its associated level of risk
• The distinction between domestic and international PEPs
• How the PEP landscape has evolved
• Where PEP risk mitigation programs go wrong
• How PEP screening can scale beyond initial customer onboarding

Looking for more information on PEPs? Check out these resources to further your knowledge:

• FATF PEP Guidance
• EU AML Directives
• The Wolfsberg Group Publication Statement Guidance on Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)
• Moody’s Analytics KYC PEP insight pieces

Ready to take your organization’s PEP risk management program to the next level? Learn how our Grid database can help and get in touch; we’d love to help.

Reflecting on a time you were deceived, did you ever pause first to ask yourself the most rudimentary question: does this make sense? Overlooking this question can lead to bad outcomes for consumers, businesses, and society alike.

The art of deception is nothing new, and neither are the subsequent feelings of humiliation and fear victims are left with.

Fighting financial crime takes on different forms across various departments, but in this episode of KYC Decoded, we focus on fraud prevention. Joining host Alex Pillow are fraud experts, Greg Richardson, Senior Director of Global Sales at NeuroID, and Kyle Caldwell, Senior Vice President of Fraud Product Management at M&T Bank. Their conversation covers:

• The many different guises of fraud
• How fraudsters steal information
• The impact fraud has on institutions, law enforcement, and practitioners
• The critical relationship between highly intelligent fraud specialists, quality data, and advanced technology when fighting sophisticated criminal networks

If this episode left you hungry for more information on fraud, here are some additional resources:

• KYC Decoded episode, Book club: The Lazarus heist
• Luke Raven’s LinkedIn post comparing fraud and anti-money laundering
• Tech coalition website
• Frank on Fraud website
• Infamous Ghost Money YouTube channel
• Our blog, NRRP anti-fraud measures intensify across the EU

And, if you are ready to take your fight against fraud another step further, please visit our website and get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
 

As the desire to build an anti-financial crime network grows, the question arises: how can we get our hands on the most comprehensive and accurate data? When it comes to collaborative financial crime fighting and fraud prevention, the concept of data sharing may seem obvious on the surface. However, delicately balancing regulatory complexities and privacy concerns, can require shifting an entire compliance culture paradigm.

In this episode of KYC Decoded, we are joined by experts Taavi Tamkivi, founder and CEO of regtech firm, Salv, and Sverker Tornhagen, Moody’s Analytics KYC Financial Crimes Industry Practice Lead. Listen along to a thought-provoking conversation highlighting topics including:

• Risks vs. benefits of data sharing
• The technology and infrastructure needed to support effective data sharing
• How teams benefit from successful data sharing

If you want to take a more active approach to fighting financial crime in your organization, here are some helpful resources mentioned in the episode to help you get started:

• KYC Decoded episode, KYC Officer of the future
• KYC Decoded episode, What’s wrong with AML?
• Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphby Ryan Holiday
• Financial Action Task Force ‘Partnering in the Fight Against Financial Crime: Data Protection, Technology and Private Sector Information Sharing’ report
• RUSI Future of Financial Intelligence Sharing ‘Lessons in Private-Financial Information Sharing to Detect and Disrupt Crime’ paper
• Basel Institute on Governance
• SALV blog
• Transactie Monitoring Nederland (TMNL)
• Monetary Authority of Singapore’s COSMIC digital platform
• Cifas

Lastly, be sure to check out our website and get in touch to learn more.

The recipe for a successful anti-money laundering program is seemingly simple on paper. But, in practice, getting the right ingredients is not so easy. Without efficiency, modern tools and technology, and a compliance-friendly culture, the final dish is likely to disappoint.

In this episode, host Alex Pillow welcomes Carl Kemmerer, Senior Product Manager at NICE Actimize. Carl brings a wealth of experience, having spent twenty years as an AML practitioner in international banking. This dynamic and comprehensive conversation includes Carl’s takes on how AML is going wrong today, including:

• Inconsistent methods of measuring risk across different banks
• The gap between AML expertise and AI expertise
• The lack of holding bad actors accountable and bringing real incentives for those going above and beyond
• Business cultures not prioritizing compliance across all departments

To learn more, visit the NICE Actimize website.

Curious about how to make AML changes in your organization? Check out our website, and feel free to get in touch – we’re happy to help.

The ACAMS Hollywood 2023 conference was another success bringing industry professionals and practitioners together to discuss AML regulatory trends, emerging technologies, and more. In this episode, host Alex Pillow provides on-the-ground coverage capturing engaging conversations with Kieran Beer, Director of Editorial Content, Chief Analyst at ACAMS; Lukayn Hunsicker, Moody's Analytics KYC Head of New Product Innovation; Richard Graham, Moody's Analytics KYC Industry Practice Lead; Colleen Dychdala, Moody's Analytics KYC Head of Premium Content at Grid; and Modesto Rivero, Moody's Analytics KYC Senior Product Analyst. And, for the first time, Alex takes his turn in the hot seat as he shares his insights with host Jill DeWitt.

Listen along for the inside scoop on conference topics, including:

• The growing role of sanctions in global affairs
• Upcoming regulations like the Corporate Transparency Act
• The increasing importance of public-private partnerships in combatting financial crime
• The friction between data privacy and AML goals
• Challenges compliance departments face today

To learn how Moody's Analytics KYC can help take your AML and compliance programs to the next level, visit our website.

The steadfast enforcement of anti-financial crime regulations in the US often leads to severe financial consequences for offenders. Jill DeWitt, Moody’s KYC Industry Practice Lead for Financial Crime and Due Diligence in the Americas, profiled some US companies that were fined in 2022. While fines ranged from thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars, a few key themes emerged across the board. In this episode, Jill guides us through some observations, including:

• Business growth vs. Compliance growth
• Staffing and training complications
• Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filings and backlogs in CDD
• Screening issues
• General program failures

For additional information, check out the resources below that were highlighted in this episode:

• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
• US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
• Next generation sanctions screening against IP addresses blog
• KYC - Driving customer loyalty, advocacy, and business growth blog

If you are looking to take your due diligence program to the next level, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you. 

The supplier risk landscape for corporates today is shaped by sanctions, ESG commitments, and potential for reputational harm - which is just the start. But amid all this, there is competitive advantage to be found through optimized third-party risk management.

No stranger to the topic is Vincent Scales, Director of Third-party Risk Management at Verizon and Chairman of the Board for the Third-party Risk Association. After participating in a primary research study conducted by Moody’s Analytics, Vincent joins this episode of KYC Decoded, bringing the findings of the research to life.

Also joining is Enrico Aresu, Moody’s Analytics Compliance and Financial Crime Practice Lead for the DACH region and central eastern Europe.

Highlights of this engaging conversation include:

• Context for increased commitment to TPRM
• Controllable vs. uncontrollable risk in supply chains
• The difference a compliance culture can make
• Gaining advantage with Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) platforms

For additional resources, check out:

• The rising tide of third-party risk management report from Moody’s Analytics, in partnership with Context Consulting
• Moody’s Analytics third-party risk management insights
• Third Party Risk Association (TPRA) website and LinkedIn profile
• Shared Assessments website and its Standardized Information Gathering (SIG) Questionnaire

To find out how Moody’s Analytics can help elevate third-party risk management and supplier due diligence in your organization, visit our website and get in touch any time.

Former international sales executive, Richard Bistrong, served time in a federal prison camp after being targeted in a US Department of Justice investigation of a UN supply contract. After fully cooperating, he now dedicates his life to raising awareness and educating companies on the risks of corruption.

In this episode of KYC decoded, Richard and Bill Hauserman, Moody’s Analytics KYC head of the Financial Crime Compliance Practice for the Americas, talk about:

• How expertise, data, and technology should work together to push due diligence forward.
• The impact culture has when it comes to compliance strategies and mitigating risk.
• The qualities required of professionals to maintain their integrity and deal with illicit actors.

For more information, check out the resources mentioned in this episode:

• Visit Richard's website at Richardbistrong.com, or email him at Richard@richardbistrong.com
• Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC
• Richard’s compilation of book reviews
• The FCPA blog
• ACAMS website
• ACFCS website
• KYC Decoded episode, ‘Modern slavery and how to fight it’

If you would like to find out how Moody’s Analytics can help automate your third-party risk management, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

The US Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is coming. It aims to create a national registry of beneficial ownership information. But what exactly does this mean? How will it change the fight against financial crime in the US and beyond? What hurdles need to be overcome? What questions are still unanswered? How can the public voice concerns?

In this episode of KYC Decoded, Alex Pillow is joined by lawyer, AML practitioner, thought leader, and current founder and principal of RegTech Consulting, LLC, Jim Richards, and former practitioner and current Moody’s KYC Industry Practice Lead Jill DeWitt. Their conversation explores these questions, and more.

After listening to this episode, be sure to check out the recommended resources discussed for further learning:

• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN): The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020
• American Bankers Association
• RegTech Consulting
• Antimoneylaundering.wtf

And make sure to visit the Moody's KYC website, where you can find even more information about beneficial ownership and customer due diligence.
 

If you could look into a crystal ball, what do you think the future would hold for KYC and AML professionals? In this episode, Luke Raven, Senior AML Compliance Manager at Cabital, shares how he hopes this industry will continue to evolve into the next generation, including:

• Changes to the compliance profession seen so far
• The skillsets – and more importantly, attitudes – needed for success
• The role technology will increasingly play in effectiveness and efficiency

For more resources, check out:

• ACAMS
• The Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime website and LinkedIn account
• Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)
• TRM Labs
• Financial Action Task Force
• The Australian Federal Police
• UK National Crime Agency (NCA)
• The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)

If you like what you heard, please check out our website to learn more.

As regulatory stakes grow higher, so does the need for reliable, comprehensive data when evaluating risk. Enter: the Moody’s Entity Verification API. In a single source, this powerful tool layers curated data on over 525 million global companies along with real-time entity information from primary sources. Here to share more on the making of this tool and its value in a compliance program are Johanna Konrad, Moody’s Compliance & third-party risk Managing Director of Product Management, and Jon Hanmer, Moody’s Sales Senior Director. Joining host, Alex Pillow, they discussed:

• How direct customer feedback shaped what the Entity Verification API delivers
• How the solution benefits stakeholders in different sectors
• Why strong entity verification lays the groundwork for a “golden record,” and why that matters
• Enablement of practitioners to monitor entities in a perpetual KYC (pKYC) program

For more information about the Moody’s Entity Verification API, visit our website. If you’d like to book a demo or learn more, please get in touch; we would love to hear from you!

One year on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so much has changed – particularly around sanctions. In this episode, host Alex Pillow is joined by Hera Smith, former Global Sanctions Compliance Officer, sanctions expert and Moody’s Analytics KYC Industry Practice Lead. 

Topics addressed in this conversation include:

• The growth of sanctioned entities over the last year
• Difficulties KYC and AML sanctions professionals face navigating ownership and control data in this pressurized environment
• Lessons learned for both regulators and practitioners
• Tools and methods compliance teams can use to address new sanctions packages efficiently and effectively
• The heightened enforcement actions being taken, with a couple of recent examples

Visit the links below for additional sanctions resources:

• US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) – Sanctions Programs and Information
• UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)
• Sanctions Law, Practice and guidance website 
• KYC Decoded sanctions miniseries:
  • Part 1: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
  • Part 2: Going Beyond the Lists
  • Part 3: Networks Defeat Networks
  • Part 4: Sanctions & Crypto

Go beyond the lists and visit our website to find out how Moody’s Analytics can enhance your organization's sanctions compliance program.

AML effectiveness. AML efficiency.

What do these words really mean and what difference do they really make in the fight against financial crime? 

In this episode of KYC Decoded, host Alex Pillow is joined by Natasha Vernier, co-founder and CEO of the regtech firm, Cable. Their lively and informative discussion covers:

• How to interpret the loose definition of AML effectiveness
• Why AML effectiveness matters
• Top reasons organizations are fined and how that continues to evolve
• The role technology plays in creating efficiency & automated workflows

For additional resources on AML effectiveness, check out:

• Cable's "The Effectiveness of Financial Crime Controls" white paper series
• The OCC's 2023 Bank Supervision Operating Plan

Learn more about Cable's automated assurance tool here and increasing regulatory expectations on partner banks here.

To get a demo of Moody’s Analytics AML solutions, visit our website.

In the final installment of our investigative journalism miniseries, host Alex Pillow is joined by The Sentry’s Michelle Kendler-Kretsch, Investigative Coordinator and Data Specialist, and Debra LaPrevotte, Senior Investigator and former FBI supervisory special agent. Their engaging, dynamic conversation drives home how investigative journalism plays a critical role in the anti-financial crime ecosystem. 

A few of the many highlights include:

• How deeply concentrated insight from investigative journalists strengthen due diligence processes in the private sector
• What signs to look for when assessing shell companies
• Why data transparency is paramount for an AFC network to defeat bad actors

Visit The Sentry’s website to learn about the work it is doing to defeat predatory networks. You will find all their reports, including the recent report Michelle mentions, Constructing Corruption: Identifying the Enablers Helping Build Violent Kleptocracies.

Additional resources about investigative journalism include the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Greed. Scandal. Fraud. Our investigative journalism miniseries continues with an epic true story of one of the biggest, most harrowing heists in history.

This hair-raising episode welcomes Bradley Hope, one of the co-authors of Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World.

This amazing book is available in all good stores, and if you still can’t get enough financial crime literature, we’ve identified our top picks here.

To learn more about the projects Bradley is developing, visit the Project Brazen website.

Multi-billion-dollar fraud. Fake bank accounts. Hackers. Spies. Whistleblowers. In this episode, Dan McCrum, Financial Times investigative reporter, brings to life his book Money Men: A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth. This entry into our investigative journalism miniseries dissects the too-good-to-be-true German tech startup, Wirecard, and the role Dan played in exposing its darkest secrets.

Be sure to purchase your copy of his book and check out the Netflix documentary film, Skandal! Bringing Down Wirecard. For further reading, we’ve curated a list of our favorite financial crime books.

Since our sanctions mini-series earlier this year, further packages of sanctions have been released. And most recently, the EU issued a set of FAQs on account openings and deposits. In this bonus episode of KYC Decoded, sanctions expert and Moody's Analytics industry practice lead, Ted Datta, makes a return appearance to shed light on what exactly is in those FAQs and what firms need to do next...

The tables have turned. In this episode of KYC Decoded, our usual host Alex Pillow sits down as a guest with Jody Houton, UK Content Marketing Manager at IDnow, an identity proofing and fraud prevention platform.Topics unpacked include:

• The importance of a holistic KYC approach utilizing the right experts
• Risk-based vs. ‘one-size’ AML strategies
• Compliance best practices and technology that scale with regulatory changes

Get the full interview notes by visiting IDnow’s website. And, find out how Moody’s Analytics can transform your risk and compliance program with a comprehensive solution - check out the website.

In this episode of KYC Decoded, Alex Pillow is joined by founder at Arctic Intelligence, Anthony Quinn. Their discussion sheds light on the current state of risk assessment frameworks and practices that aren't necessarily keeping up with the rapidly accelerating rate of stricter regulations and heightened criminal activity.

Visit the Arctic Intelligence website to discover more about their innovative RegTech solutions, and download a free copy of their 2022 AML Industry Benchmarking report. 

Alex Pillow, host of the KYC Decoded podcast, caught up with Head of Financial Crime at Featurespace, Annegret Funke, and journalist from Compliance Week, Aaron Nicodemus, to get their standout moments from ACAMS Vegas. Here are their thoughts on the things you need to know.

• US Beneficial ownership: the registry is coming, what do you need to understand and how do you prepare?
• Crypto exposure: every institution has exposure through their customers, so where is yours?
• Encouraging innovation: regulators and law enforcement are actively fostering innovation in the industry and strengthening communication and collaboration.
• Inclusivity in banking: bringing small and community banks into the financial crime fold to give criminals a smaller target.

There’s much more, so listen to this bonus episode of KYC Decoded and unlock ACAMS Vegas ’22 in less than 22 minutes.

This episode welcomes Jean-Paul Eaton, Global Community Director of FINTRAIL’s Fintech Fincrime Exchange (FFE), who takes listeners through the story of how FFE originated. What started as a small roundtable, FFE has now matured into a global community that shares information on how to detect and deal with financial crime.

Listen along to learn more about FFE and FFECON, its annual conference for FinTechs and financial crime professionals to understand and share developments in the industry.

Hear about FFE and its activities by visiting its LinkedIn page, and check out the FINTRAIL website for research from a network of talented financial crime fighters.

The term “Entity Verification” can mean different things to different people. Perhaps it brings to mind beneficial ownership, identity checks, or third-party risk management. Regardless, Entity Verification is the bedrock for understanding who you are doing business with.

We are pleased to welcome back guest, Paul Nola, Partner at Context Consulting, for this episode of Moody’s Talks: KYC Decoded. Paul walks us through the findings of Moody’s latest study on Entity Verification. In addition to sharing how the study was conducted and some of the results of the report, Paul and host, Alex Pillow, discuss common themes that emerged, such as:

• Why the time is now to be ramping up Entity Verification programs
• Challenges that can make Entity Verification difficult to implement
• The downstream benefits of a strong Entity Verification foundation
• The need for proper and robust data governance
• How AI is being used to make Entity Verification scale in a quick, reliable way
• The elusive ‘golden record’ - a single view of a data entity

You can find more information about Entity Verification on our website, or check out the resource below:
 

• Who are you doing business with? A Moody’s study into Entity Verification

If you would like to learn more about Moody’s Entity Verification data offerings, please get in touch – we would love to hear from you.

In our pKYC series we have explored the concept of pKYC and the technologies behind it, but what is it like operationally to practice this modern process and yield positive outcomes? In this final installment of the pKYC series, Jessica Cath, Head of Financial Crime Project Delivery at FINTRAIL, discusses her unique experiences and perspectives as an active practitioner in compliance to answer this question.

Visit the Moody’s Analytics KYC website for more information on how to implement pKYC in your organization.

And visit FINTRAIL’s website for even more resources:

• FINTRAIL Insights Page

A large difference between traditional KYC and Perpetual KYC is the technological advancements that enhance the process to make it more efficient. In the second part of our pKYC series, Alex Pillow speaks with Delphine Masquelier, KYC Solution Manager at Quantexa, Alex Richter, Head of Customer Lifecycle Management at PassFort, and Henry Irish, Manager of Technology Strategy at Moody’s Analytics. Their discussion takes a closer look at the technologies needed for a successful Perpetual KYC program.

Visit the Moody’s Analytics KYC website for more information on how to implement pKYC in your organization.

And visit Quantexa’s website for even more pKYC resources:

• Continuous KYC: A data-led approach that helps you find real risks in real time
• Moving to Continuous KYC Monitoring to Reduce Risk & Improve Compliance

Are the traditional methods of periodic review things of the past? A new approach called Perpetual KYC (pKYC), offers solutions to optimize the conventional process and make it more time efficient and less expensive, providing real-time risk mitigation. In the first part of our Perpetual KYC series, host Alex Pillow is joined by Chor Teh, Moody’s Analytics Financial Crime Compliance Industry Practice Lead, to explore the definition, understanding, and implementation of Perpetual KYC.

Visit the Moody’s Analytics KYC website for more information on how to implement pKYC in your organization.

For additional resources, check out:

• PassFort Lifecycle Website
• Wolfsberg Group Guidance on Digital Customer Lifecycle Risk Management
• FATF Opportunities and Challenges of New Technologies for AML/CFT

It is noble and important work when compliance professionals spend their days behind an office desk using sophisticated tools and processes to prevent financial crime. However, there’s another compelling story to be told about the difference one can make away from the office, deep within the trenches. This episode welcomes undercover agent and author, Robert Mazur, who has worked side-by-side with some of the world’s most notorious money launderers and drug traffickers. Be sure to grab your copy of Mazur’s latest book, The Betrayal, and listen along as he shares his experiences and the inspiration behind his work.

For more information, please check out the following resources mentioned in this episode:

• Robert Mazur’s general website
• The Betrayal and The Infiltrator books
• Subscribe to Robert Mazur’s PODCASTS+