Financial Crime

The UN estimates that $2 trillion is laundered annually and less than 1% of financial crimes are stopped, despite hundreds of billions spent by companies on anti-money-laundering (AML) compliance. Money laundering is not victimless. It enables the trafficking of drugs, weapons, endangered animals and humans.

Of the 40 million people held captive in modern slavery, a quarter are children. This is an asymmetrical war with criminals and terror networks using high-tech methods to hide money, and the financial industry and government still relying mostly on analog technology. AML is one of the most advanced use cases for RegTech. AIR works with regulators, law enforcement, banks and technology firms to create new tools to fight financial crime.

TECHSPRINT • TechSprint to Combat Digital Payment Fraud in West Africa

The Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR) hosted a virtual TechSprint focused on detecting and combating digital payment fraud in West Africa.

BLOG • How to Arm Anti-Corruption Fighters with Better Data Tools

AIR held the first of multiple TechSprints on new technologies to shine a light on global corruption. The events, held in concert with the State and Treasury departments, grew out of a White House initiative to promote democracy.

TECHSPRINT • AIR Partners with State, Treasury on Summit for Democracy TechSprint

The Anti-corruption Solutions through Emerging Technologies (ASET) TechSprint explored how technology can aid the fight against corruption. AIR ran the event, which grew out of the Summit for Democracy, with the State and Treasury departments.

TECHSPRINT • AIR Runs First U.S. Regulatory TechSprint to Explore AML Solutions

The Anti-Money Laundering TechSprint, held in cooperation with the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority, focused on using privacy-enhancing technologies to fight financial crimes that aid human traffickers, drug cartels and other bad actors.

PODCAST • Rep. Bill Foster on How AI Will Transform Finance

The Illinois Democrat was appointed chair of a House task force on artificial intelligence. He speaks with Jo Ann about banks’ efforts to be more tech savvy, digital identity issues and algorithmic bias, among other subjects.

REPORT • A New High-tech Era for AML Compliance in the U.S.

In a chapter for the 2022 Paypers Financial Crime and Fraud Report, AIR CEO Jo Ann Barefoot examines the potential of data-driven regtech solutions to reduce false-positives and ultimately lead to a more effective anti-money laundering regime.

TECHSPRINT • Protecting Children from Online Predators

The Protecting Children TechSprint focused on combating the purchase of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through the use of crypto analytics. It was featured in Fast Company magazine’s 2021 World Changing Ideas awards.

ARTICLE • Advancing Digital Identity: Building Essential Infrastructure

In March 2024, AIR partnered with the Aspen Institute to convene two roundtables with a cross-section of digital identity experts. This brief summarizes the dialogue and next steps, and extends an invitation to engage with this work.

PODCAST • Optimizing Use of Encrypted Data is Key to Thwarting Financial Crime

Ellison Anne Williams, CEO of Enveil, sits down with Jo Ann to explain how homomorphic encryption allows financial institutions and authorities to share anti-money laundering information without compromising privacy.

PODCAST • Ribbit Capital’s Mandelker on How to Modernize Government Technology

Former Treasury Undersecretary Sigal Mandelker speaks to Jo Ann with informed insight and candor about the need for the government to work better and the technology gap in financial regulation.

PODCAST • Simon Taylor on How Crypto and DeFi Move Forward

The first 2023 episode is Jo Ann’s discussion with Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy at the anti-fraud tech firm Sardine. He weighs in on crypto’s “massive fraud problem,” and the pros and cons of building trust through decentralization and code.

NEWS • AIR TechSprint Highlighted as Achievement in ‘Innovating and Partnering to Combat Corruption’

The White House announced select achievements during the “Year of Action” following the U.S. Summit for Democracy in December 2021, including AIR’s Anti-Corruption Solutions through Emerging Technologies (ASET) TechSprint.

PODCAST • Demystifying DeFi and Web3 with Tomicah Tillemann

Tillemann, Chief Policy Officer of Haun Ventures, shares his views about the crypto winter and how the confluence of blockchain, open source and digital tokens could solve stubborn problems.

PODCAST • AIR’s CEO Featured on Fintech Insider Podcast about Financial Crime

Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO of the Alliance of Innovative Regulation, was a guest on a recent episode of the podcast, participating in discussions about the state of financial crime, the rise of crypto and how to balance innovation with security.

WHITE PAPER • AIR and Google Release Paper on Applying Model Risk Management Guidance to AI

The paper argues that MRM guidance, given its broad, principles-based approach, continues to provide an appropriate framework for assessing financial institutions’ management of model risk, even for Risk AI/ML models.

Financial Crime

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