Resources & Articles

Regulatory reforms are happening at an accelerated pace, on a global scale. Managing the volume and velocity of change is a significant challenge for compliance departments in banking, insurance and other financial services…

Posted on March 26, 2019

The AML shop brings together a dynamic team of leading industry experts to provide advisory and support services in governance, risk and compliance for financial services, including program development and remediation, reviews, outsourced compliance services, and training.

Posted on June 6, 2018

Fiserv is driving innovation in Payments, Processing Services, Risk & Compliance, Customer & Channel Management and Insights & Optimization. A global leader in financial services technology, Fiserv is a FORTUNE 500 company and one of FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies.

Posted on June 6, 2018

AML remains a high priority for Canadian regulators. Firms will be expected to become ever more proactive and pre-emptive to mitigate money laundering and other types of financial crime.

Posted on April 20, 2018

This blog comments on the journey from raw and meaningless data to insightful knowledge, and actionable wisdom in the context of AML Compliance. Similar principles do apply to a wide range of financial crime compliance programs.

Posted on April 20, 2018

This paper will discuss recent changes to the United States (U.S.) sanction laws, increased enforcement penalties in U.S. law, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Enforcement Guidelines published in November 2009, as well as discuss other factors that may be driving the apparent discrepancy in U.S. sanctions enforcement of U.S. and non-U.S. financial institutions.

The AML Shop does not warrant or guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information in this guide. Its contents are current as of March 6, 2018, but should not be relied upon as accurate, timely or fit for any particular purpose.

Posted on April 20, 2018

The AML Shop has compiled this quick reference guide setting out the sanctions lists against which financial service companies are generally required to screen their clients, counterparties, and other relevant persons. This guide is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice or an opinion of any kind. Users of this guide are advised to seek advice by contacting members of The AML Shop (or their own advisors or legal counsel) regarding any specific issues.

The AML Shop does not warrant or guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of the information in this guide. Its contents are current as of March 6, 2018, but should not be relied upon as accurate, timely or fit for any particular purpose.

Posted on April 20, 2018

While ignorance may be bliss in some cases, it is generally not regarded as an acceptable state of affairs by regulators when it comes to the question of how financial institutions ensure they are complying with all applicable laws. Guidelines issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (“OSFI”) and Québec’s Authorité des Marchés Financiers (“AMF”) explicitly state that a financial institution should (1) be aware of what laws, regulations and supervisory guidelines apply to it, (2) ensure that compliance with these laws, regulations and guidelines are incorporated into regular compliance reviews, and (3) ensure that controls and procedures are in place to manage the risk of non-compliance…

Posted on November 3, 2017

Regulatory Change Management (“RCM”) is a relatively new compliance concept. Born out of the tremendous increase in regulatory activity post the 2008 global financial crisis, RCM as a discipline is fairly self-explanatory. It is the process by which financial institutions manage change. Simple, right? In fact, Compliance Officers who have been in practice for a significant length of time may balk at the idea of labeling a function that is so axiomatic to the compliance role.

However as simple the RCM concept is, the challenge lies in the application…

Posted on November 3, 2017

Investing in risk management makes sense because the better we understand risk, the more risk we can take, so the more we can grow. It is therefore critical that we develop a deep understanding of what certain risks mean to our businesses, how they fit with our risk appetites, and how we can equip ourselves to make more informed business decisions…

Posted on October 23, 2017

In the past 10 years, amazing advances in technology and automation have presented great opportunities for organizations to innovate and realize efficiencies. Yet, as technological capabilities expand, so too do regulatory expectations, including what compliance programs should be. Today’s Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) are expected to have certain data and analytics (D&A) available at their fingertips from across the enterprise, to recognize and question potential indicia or red flags that are visible in the data and also to utilize D&A to refine and focus their compliance efforts in a more risk-based manner…

Posted on October 18, 2017

Thomson Reuters has completed its fourth annual survey on how firms around the world are managing the challenges presented by the regulatory focus on culture and conduct risk. More than 750 financial services firms worldwide participated. See what they said…

Posted on October 4, 2017

The burgeoning new world of online “marketplace” lending holds the promise of broader access to credit for consumers and businesses with reduced cost and more competition. However, cutting-edge technology, data sources and credit modeling methods also pose potential for fair lending risk – notwithstanding the fair lending benefits of automated decision-making. We provide an overview of marketplace lending, the “Big Data” and machine-learning technologies increasingly being used by both online and traditional lenders, and key considerations in managing fair lending risk in this brave new world…

Posted on October 4, 2017

Brand reputation is hard won and easily lost and few would deny its importance. Protecting that reputation from undue third party risk is one of the key drivers behind due diligence reports being a standard tool for compliance officers to identify indications of corruption, fraud or other illicit activity among individuals and entities with whom they have (or expect to have) significant direct business dealings…

Posted on September 26, 2017

The regulatory environment is putting increasing pressure on banks and other financial institutions, as they must both focus on current compliance and prepare for upcoming changes.

Our survey report quantifies and comments on the real world impact of these challenges, but first we will briefly outline the background to the survey and its findings…

Posted on September 26, 2017

When compliance managers think about the good old days, they do not have to look back too far. In fact, prior to 2008, the world was a much simpler place: the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a list of sanctioned companies and individuals, and as long as their company was not doing business with any person on that list, they seemed to be in good shape. This was definitely not an easy task. However, after 2008, it became more complicated when OFAC guidance stated that an ownership interest of 50% or more by a sanctioned subject was blocked or otherwise limited….

Posted on September 26, 2017