Financial ecosystems are no longer confined within national boundaries. Money, technology, and risks flow seamlessly across jurisdictions, creating unprecedented challenges for compliance officers. From sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations to the rise of virtual assets, the compliance function must now navigate a complex, cross-border landscape where regulators, institutions, and technologies often move at different speeds.
AML
Posted inAML
Why audit won’t save your anti-money laundering (AML) program
In financial institutions across the United States, there’s a reflex that’s become almost ritual.
When a regulator walks in, or a board member asks whether the AML program is working, the answer is the same: “We just passed audit.” It’s delivered with confidence, sometimes even pride, as if the risk has been neutralized. But passing audit doesn’t mean your program is safe.
It doesn’t mean it’s effective. And in today’s threat landscape, it doesn’t mean much of anything at all.
Posted inAML
FinCEN again delays U.S. ban on three Mexican financial institutions
The order barring three Mexican financial institutions from doing business with U.S. financial institutions has been delayed until October.
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
Fraud, money laundering, and sanctions prompt global regulators to increase scrutiny of law firms
Legal firms face growing global regulatory pressure, requiring compliance managers to focus on integrated systems, identity verification, and staff training to prevent crime and penalties.
Posted inRisk Management
Risks for corporations doing business in Mexico have skyrocketed under Trump
The Trump administration’s designation of Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations in February has made doing business in Mexico riskier than ever before for corporations.
Posted inAnti-Bribery
DOJ targets $14.6B in health care fraud with focus on transnational crime
Emerging enforcement priorities of the U.S. Department of Justice’s health care fraud division align with the Trump administration’s emphasis on prosecuting transnational criminal organizations and ending opioid trafficking.
Posted inAML
FinCEN bars three Mexican financial institutions for aiding cartels in fentanyl trade
Three Mexican financial institutions will be barred from transacting with U.S.-based banks after a U.S. Treasury agency determined that the institutions allowed their networks to aid the illegal fentanyl trade of Mexican criminal organizations.
Posted inRisk Management
Federal Reserve Board drops reputational risk from exams, aligning with OCC and FDIC shift
Bank examiners at the Federal Reserve Board will no longer assess reputational risk during examinations, a concession to the banking industry already underway with two other U.S. regulators.
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Communication and relationships is increasingly critical for compliance teams
Compliance is increasingly in the spotlight as companies are tackling everything from artificial intelligence and other new technologies to risk management and mitigation. But it’s soft skills of communication and relationship building that are becoming the most critical tools for success.
Posted inRisk Management
TPRM has become the business continuity plan
Global supply chains are constantly in flux: crucial vendors could suddenly go bankrupt, fail to produce key components without warning, or even lose your firm’s data in a breach. The result has drawn ever more attention to third-party risk management as a critical element of many businesses.
