Maximizing automation rates is the key to cost-efficient compliance operations at banks, FinTechs and other financial services businesses. It has led to the popularity of WorkFusion AI Digital Workers because they leverage AI, ML and multiple other technologies to maximize automation to reduce manual work, enhance quality, increase speed, and expand compliance team capacity. So, it’s little wonder that existing and prospective customers want to know how we can automate even more with the latest technology has to offer – AI and LLMs (large language models) in combination. In this post, we expla ..read more

Adverse media screening (aka ‘adverse media monitoring’) is one of the most effective tools that banks and other financial institutions (FIs) have for helping to manage and mitigate risk, particularly financial crime risk. When performed correctly, a robust adverse media monitoring process can have great impact, as you can see from our recent webinar, blog post and customer stories on the topic.   Performed properly, adverse media monitoring, followed by review of all negative media identified, can determine whether risk exists in conducting business with specific persons or companie ..read more

Welcome to the March 2024 summary of news you can use as your bank or other financial institution attempts to stay up to date on the world of BSA/AML compliance. Our monthly series of curated news about financial crime developments, resources and stories.   In this edition, three main stories emerge:  Court rules Corporate Transparency Act exceeds Constitution’s limits on Congress’s power FinCen reveals analysis of two years’ SARs activity in Puerto Rico Russian national’s guilty plea highlights how money launderers are enabling Russia with US-made military grade electronics C ..read more

Organizations across industries are looking to simplify the discussion of how AI can be adopted and implemented for true operational efficiency gains. Early successes with machine learning and other forms of AI have accelerated the availability of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI (GenAI). With that, AI-driven digital workers – referred to as autonomous worker agents (AWAs) by Forrester and AI Digital Workers by WorkFusion – make possible multiple use cases only imagined until recently. The potential impact on operational efficiency is tremendous.  Recently, Peter Cousins, CT ..read more

Model risk management (MRM) is the practice of identifying, measuring, and mitigating the potential dangers arising from using inaccurate or misused models. Think of it as building a fence around a powerful tool, ensuring its outputs are reliable and its use responsible.  MRM is crucial in various fields, especially finance, where decisions based on models around credit scores or market predictions can have significant financial impact. But the potential for error lurks everywhere – from faulty assumptions in a model’s design to biased or incorrect data or programming mistakes. MRM tackle ..read more

Welcome to the February 2024 summary of news you can use as your bank or other financial institution attempts to stay up to date on the world of BSA/AML compliance. Our monthly series of curated news about financial crime developments, resources and stories.   In this edition, four main stories emerge:  FinCen proposes rule to combat FinCrime in the investment advisory sector Standard Chartered again linked to US-sanctioned Iranian firms The EU removes the Cayman Islands and Jordan from its list of high-risk third countries ICBC to pay US regulators $32.4 million for AML lapses ..read more

When it comes to the challenges of mitigating FinCrime threats – money laundering, terror financing, entanglement with sanctioned persons – the strategy of outsourced FinCrime compliance is failing. This failure is plain to see in the results of Celent’s recent study of bank compliance programs, Technology Transformation in Financial Crime Compliance: Improving workforce efficiency to manage risk and add value.  While 77% of study participants sought to bolster their FinCrime mitigation efforts via outsourcing, a full 66% of organizations have only been able to improve their workload capa ..read more

The ACAMS January 2024 meeting of the Boston chapter was held last week and provided a lot of great insights around financial crime fighting in the age of AI. In fact, the event title was Financial Crimes Modeling in the AI Era: Explainability, Optimization, and Governance.  The most significant takeaways arose from four areas:   How to get started with AI  Preparing to explain your AI to regulators  Caring for and feeding your AI model   Only AI innovation will reduce exposure to fraud  The panel-led and highly interactive discussion included th ..read more

Third-party payment processors (TPPPs) play an increasingly important role in the electronic payment ecosystem, making it easy for merchants to accept and process various forms of payment (credit cards, e-checks, and recurring payments) from customers. Leading TPPPs (i.e. PayPal, Square) process huge volumes of payments annually. For example, in the second quarter of 2023, PayPal’s total payment volume had grown by 10.8 percent compared to the same quarter of 2022 and was generated through over six billion transactions. Unlike merchant accounts, which have a lengthy application process and can ..read more

No bank, anywhere in the world, has the budget to pay their Level One (L1) FinCrime compliance analysts six-figure salaries. Yet, for many smaller BFS firms, the reality is that a higher paid officer must often step in to perform the L1 analyst function to alleviate crisis-level staffing shortages.  How prevalent is the problem? According to a recent study by WorkFusion and Celent, the leading research and advisory firm focused on technology for financial institutions, Technology Transformation in Financial Crime Compliance, “38% of firms fill capacity gaps by calling on more senior perso ..read more