The FinCrime Files – Q&A with James Holian, Director, Financial Crime and Controls, NatWest Group
In this edition of our FinCrime Files interview series, we caught up with James Holian who is Director of Financial Crime and Controls at the NatWest Group. Hi James, could you tell us a little about yourself and your current
Post-Brexit UK: a patchwork quilt of sanctions regimes
The UK has launched a new sanctions regime following Brexit, underlining the fragmented nature of the international sanctions framework At the height of the Brexit tensions last year, anti-corruption campaigners expressed concern that the UK might be seen as soft
InsideArachnys – Q&A with German Syroezhkin, Senior Software Engineer
Welcome to InsideArachnys, a series of interviews where we speak to the people behind the Arachnys platform. In this edition, we caught up with German Syroezhkin, one of our Senior Software Engineers in London. Hi German, can you tell us
Know Your Crypto: How KYC and AML are helping cryptocurrencies go mainstream
Cryptocurrency, once dubbed the ‘wild west of money’, is now settling into the mainstream. Even banks are starting to invest in crypto. Like all other money exchanges, crypto is growing up, and this is causing the regulators to listen. In this
Cryptocurrency Exchanges and the Changing Tides of KYC Compliance
Even by cryptocurrency standards, the level of volatility displayed in 2021 has been quite astounding. In late May, a staggering crash wiped out $1.21 trillion in market value across popular currencies including Bitcoin, which experienced a 30% loss in
Are grey area NFTs the new source of crypto-concern for AML?
“What does NFT even stand for, anyway?” Perhaps these words have resonated with you the past few months in conversations with colleagues or friends. While seemingly a throwaway josh, it echoes an unfamiliarity that many people working within financial
The FinCrime Files – Q&A with Renata Hoes, Regulatory Compliance Manager at Bitstamp
In this edition of our FinCrime Files interview series, we had the pleasure of catching up with Renata Hoes. We first spoke to Renata in June of 2020 when we she was Chief Compliance Officer at MFEX Luxembourg, and
The shift towards adopting continuous KYC
Over the past two years we’ve seen a rapidly growing shift in the financial services industry towards creating a continuous KYC approach, moving away from traditional periodic reviews. With regulators increasing pressure on financial institutions to enhance their KYC
The Private Investment Industry Should Turn Its Focus to Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
Last summer, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) stated in a leaked intelligence bulletin that they believe that nearly $10 trillion in private investment funds are being used as vehicles for laundering money. Despite these concerns, when the Anti-Money
How can AML analysts effectively make the most of alternative data
Part of an AML analysts’ workload involves the scrupulous investigation of ‘suspicious activity’ that could pass through a financial institution and be alerted through their internal systems. One way in which an analysts’ life can be made easier is
Integrated Review’s illicit finance pledges are limited, but banks can help
The UK’s long overdue Integrated Review includes welcome plans to track down economic criminals. Too many of these criminals are still going undetected, due to a lack of resources and focus. But some say the review lacks detail and
Why China’s Belt & Road initiative faces overwhelming odds in its fight against corruption
The Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) needs no introduction. Started in 2013, the Chinese infrastructural development project had come to embody its parent nation in many ways – audacious in scale, problematic from a wide range of perspectives, yet,