Iain Armstrong

This article was originally published by UK Finance in July 2024.   In my discussions with compliance leaders across leading financial institutions (FIs) this year, a recurring theme has been managing politically exposed persons (PEPs) and their associated data. With […]

This article was originally published in The Payments Association EU’s June 2024 whitepaper, “KYT Best Practices and More,” written in collaboration with Deloitte and Banking Circle. Download the full whitepaper here.    Efficient and accurate data analysis is crucial for effective […]

In regular times, 2023 would have been seen as a busy year in geopolitics. But in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the massive Western sanctions in response to it, it seemed relatively quiet […]

On 7th June, the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) announced new reimbursement requirements for authorised push payment (APP) fraud victims. In this blog and my video below, I break down what the announcement means and – as someone who has […]

Would a greater focus on predicate offenses make the fight against money laundering more effective?  Until recently, the focus for many financial institutions (FIs) has been on detecting money laundering and retrieving the proceeds of crime. And given that the […]

What’s happened?  On March 16th, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a “Dear CEO” letter to payments firms authorized or registered under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, and Electronic Money Regulations 2011.  In it, Matthew Long, the FCA’s Director of […]

In our State of Financial Crime 2023 survey, more than one in three senior compliance professionals cited reputational risk as the factor most likely to drive change within their organization. This was a 6 percentage point rise from the previous year. Indeed, reputational risk was the only factor to see a year-on-year increase.  

When asked which area of their compliance function would be at risk in an audit, 48 percent – the highest proportion – told us it would be their knowledge of regulations. This blog explores the evolving anti-money laundering regulatory landscape, examining several global trends and themes in major economies.