Recent publications

Times of crisis often lead to an odd mix of tragedy and innovation, and the global COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Governments around the world rightfully prioritise human lives at the immediate cost of their economy in an attempt to contain the pandemic and flatten the curve. Financial institutions have...

Learning from the past to change the future of Correspondent BankingToday, the global FinCrime risk management industry finds itself at a pivotal moment. As it stands, the global economy is more integrated than ever before. With this interconnectedness has come a marked increase in the financial crime risk borne by...

Luanda Leaks, Consultancies, and Conflicts of InterestReflections on Fixing a Flawed SystemThe revelations surrounding the conduct and likely criminal activity of Isabel dos Santos has brought to the fore familiar issues in the financial crime space. The reporting conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) paints a picture we have...

Genesis, Evolution and VisionElucidate is a Berlin-based RegTech providing financial crime risk quantification to help financial institutions to score and predict financial crime risk through the Elucidate FinCrime Index platform (“EFI”).What issues have you addressed in the market, and how does the EFI address them?Shane (S): As with many startups, the genesis of...

For a data-driven approach to preventing and detecting financial crimeWithin the broad universe of information that constitutes the data generated every day, both by financial institutions, and authorities, there exists an extensive set of information relevant to understanding normal and abnormal transactional activity. Having access to this data and understanding...

Defining outcomes in the anti-financial crime industry: skip out on counterfactuals, build on a probabilistic approachWhen it comes to preventing financial crime, today’s banking industry is stuck in a cycle of endless investments, and limited returns. With the global cost of financial crime holding steady, and the price of prevention...

How financial crime scandals reveal the need for enhanced risk monitoring technologyIn recent years, leaks of financial data have led to an increased awareness of the extent to which financial crime exists within the global market. From the Panama Papers to the Troika Dialog disclosures, leaks and whistleblowers have become...

And how technology provides a cost-effective alternativeWith the heightened burden and increased costs placed on correspondent banks today to ensure compliance across their portfolio, many major institutions have instead resorted to “de-risking” certain segments, markets, and jurisdictions. De-risking largely came about as an unintended consequence of regulations that left banks...

All too often, highly capable respondent banks are left disempowered by the top-down financial crime risk management practices commonplace in the industry.It’s no secret that the recent push for more rigid financial crime regulatory oversight of financial institutions has resulted in a retreat from the correspondent banking space, and the...

Without an adequate financial crime risk management strategy and technology to support it, executives and Board Members are putting themselves at risk of being found liable for financial crime.Increasing focus on personal liabilityIn 2012, HSBC was found to have been involved in a series of illicit transactions, including transfers amounting...