Uplifting sanctions/export controls and breaking anonymity
A Canadian national and a New York resident pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to commit export control violations for their roles in a global procurement scheme on behalf of sanctioned Russian companies. Some of the electronic components shipped by the defendants were later found in seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine. According to the court documents, the defendants allegedly conspired to ship more than $7 million in dual-use US electronics to sanctioned Russian companies, shipping the components through front companies in several countries, including Turkey, India, China, and the United Arab Emirate, from where they were subsequently rerouted to Russia. As this and other similar cases highlight, sanctioned parties and organized criminal networks are growing more sophisticated and aligned in their techniques every day. 🔦 Breaking anonymity and overcoming obfuscation remains critical The illicit usage of Shell/Front Companies, transactions and shipments to non-sanctioned countries and entities, the presence of underlying collusion etc. have all made risk management in this space increasingly difficult. This has put an unnecessary burden on frequently separate investigation and analyst teams within financial institutions to gather data and make the connections. However, by bringing together internal and external KYC, AML and Sanctions data, intelligence and processes, Quantexa enables the comprehensive contextual monitoring of customers and counterparties throughout their entire lifecycle. This allows institutions to better identify and manage holisticrisk, inclusive of sanctions and the presence of evasion techniques, including the illicit usage of shell companies, professional enablers and gatekeepers. To see how technology, combined with better data sources and focused typologies have changed the way institutions can break through the anonymity so essential for sanctions risk management, please reach out or take a look at the below. ➡Breaking Anonymity Through AI: Sanctions, Shell Companies and Scandals (webinar on-demand) ➡Navigating Secondary Sanctions Risk: The Heightened Need to Mitigate Indirect Exposure (blog) ➡New FinCEN Advisory: Counter the Financing of Iran-Backed Terrorist Organizations (blog) ➡Navigating Global Sanctions: Technology Solutions for Asia-Pacific Compliance Challenges (blog)A Roadmap to Resilience: How Banks Can Leverage AI to Advance AML Capabilities
Pleased to share my latest article in The International Banker on how regulated entities can maximise their Compliance programme investment in AI - starting with getting their data in the best possible shape to inform any downstream model or process. You can find the article here:https://internationalbanker.com/technology/a-roadmap-to-resilience-how-banks-can-leverage-ai-to-advance-aml-capabilities/
Don't miss our new 'A day in the life of... an Investigator' series 🔎
Did you know we've recently added a new section for investigators to our A day in the life… series? Check out the series (login required) to read about a typical day of some of the best investigators using Quantexa, as well as some of their top investigation success stories. Interested in contributing your story? Let us know at community@quantexa.com
A Tale of Two Investigations: Transforming Financial Crime Risk Monitoring and Investigations
The adoption of technologies to enhance financial crime risk monitoring has become ubiquitous within the banking sector. These technologies span a spectrum, ranging from the automation of fairly binary controls to the deployment of black-box Artificial Intelligence (AI) models. Regulators are increasingly advocating for organizations to embrace technological advancements in their fight against financial crime, as exemplified by: FCA, MAS, HKMA all have RegTech support initiatives with digital sandboxes to promote solutions to complex regulatory challenges; MAS provides RegTech grants for Singapore based FIs looking to enhance their risk management and compliance functions with the use of technological solutions; HKMA’s recent AML Regtech: Network Analytics report promotes the adoption of network analytics capability to strengthen the response of banks’ anti-money laundering (AML) systems to deception and other financial crimes. In addition to improving risk identification, many solutions are dedicated to enhancing the actual investigation process by eliminating manual, historically time-consuming and inconsistent steps such as data collation or narrative production for SAR/STR filing. These solutions hold significant appeal as they can streamline resources while maintaining comprehensive risk coverage. The benefits of risk mitigation and operational optimization offered by such tools are widely recognized and discussed. However, what is less frequently discussed is the need to transform the underlying investigative process itself. The most cutting-edge tools may fall short of their full potential if they are not accompanied by process innovations. Transformative technologies demand transformative approaches, that often includes a cultural and mindset shift, as well as a technical one. To illustrate this point, let's examine a financial crime case study through two different investigative lenses and how they can lead to materially different outcomes:Did you know we offer an AML Investigator Program through the Quantexa Academy?
This program teaches individuals how to combine many of the key components of the Quantexa platform that they have learnt about in the Quantexa Foundations program in such a way as to facilitate their ability to conduct an AML themed Investigation. (Duration: 4 days) Having completed the program, learners will understand the relevant core concepts and how to use the key UI components of the Quantexa platform based on a Know Your Customer (KYC) use case. Modules include: Quantexa User Foundations Program - Introduces the core concepts of our platform, including Networks, Documents, Entities, and Entity Resolution. This Program also introduces Search, Investigation and Task components of the Quantexa platform’s UI. Quantexa Investigations Series: AML Investigator - Teaches how to combine many of the key components of the Quantexa platform that you have learnt about in the Quantexa Foundations program in such a way as to facilitate your ability to conduct an AML themed Investigation. Outcome: On successful completion of the program and its associated Knowledge Check, learners will be awarded the Quantexa Investigations Series: AML Investigator completion badge. Read more about the courses we offer and how to sign up in our Introduction to Quantexa Education Services and the Quantexa Academy Join our KYC- Know Your Customer User Group for all the latest KYC news!
