Here you will find the AML-ology curriculum, our monthly curated articles, to help any BSA professional stay up-to-date on the latest trends and learn answers to timeless challenges. We share articles written by a number of industry sources that we believe take an academic approach to the challenges anti- money laundering (AML) professionals face, and actual solutions for you to implement. These articles are published monthly and sent directly to you when you sign up to be an AML-ology Scholar!
In my over 35 years of providing recruitment and staffing services to the financial industry, I have been through the ups and downs of talent shortages, retention issues, and compensation variances. These are commonplace issues that occur in many departments due to economic reasons, budgets, training gaps, etc. However, it seems that these challenges are […]
What It Is The general “rule of thumb” in the AML world is that for every method that the financial industry initiates to detect and deter money laundering, the launderers devise a new way around it. We all play by the same rules and the governing authorities have gracefully published those rules so that they […]
On July 24, 2019, the OCC issued Bulletin 2019-37 Operational Risk: Fraud Risk Management Principles. In our first article in this series, we distilled the guidance down to its three component parts governance/culture, risk management, and reporting. In this article, we cover the two central components of a compliant fraud risk management program. These are […]
Part 1: Governance, Operations, Management Introduction On July 24, 2019, the OCC issued Bulletin 2019-37 Operational Risk: Fraud Risk Management Principles. The OCC guidance can be broken down into three components: Governance/Culture Ethical standards and employee accountability. Risk Management Operations Policies, procedures, processes, controls, personnel sufficient to identify, measure, monitor, and […]
Introduction In this article, I will present updated fundamentals on what is an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) model validation as defined by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) guidance. In an effort to provide oversight on the model validation process, I will demonstrate the definition, it’s origin, how that translates to its use in […]
What is explainability? There is a lot of chatter about it in relation to software applications, in particular those that leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Regulators have been sort of blunt about use of these technologies: a firm can’t just buy and implement a new piece of technology, […]
There can be a precarious path bankers walk assuming that a community bank has a low risk for money laundering. The reality is that nefarious actors know this, and while these banks are often doing their best with the staff and budget they have to work with, bank leaders and board members need to be […]
BSA risks continue to evolve and time does not stand still for money launderers or fraudsters. The criminals are always looking for non-traditional ways to accomplish the same results and financial institutions and BSA Officers often only rely on controls we are most comfortable with. This tendency is the starting foundation for BSA criticism. Is your BSA program and […]
Structuring – You’re Probably Not Getting It Right Structuring. That old thing? Yeah, that. Some may have stopped at the title. But if you are a community bank or credit union – you are plagued day-to-day with structuring activity and alerts. Cash is still king in smaller institutions. The chances of your analysts viewing this […]
Introduction In my twenty years of being a BSA officer, I’ve learned a lot, both through any successes my team has had, and through the mistakes I’ve made. In this article, I’m going to share with you all the things that have stood out to me in my career: all the AML stakeholders, the full […]
