The worlds of financial crime and cybercrime are colliding, converging into one. The biggest threat to businesses globally is the new cyber-enabled financial crime. Yet businesses and even financial institutions tasked with protecting our money continue to fight this combined threat with multiple separate defense systems and multiple separate defense teams. The situation is like...

How would you picture those who work to prevent weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from falling into the wrong hands? Would you picture them heavily armed and with a military bearing? Then you might be surprised. Although such individuals sometimes fight the spread of WMD, the front lines feature a different type. The bulk of...

Terrorist funding detection has been practiced the same way as money laundering detection ever since Counter Terrorism Funding (CTF) initiatives were added to Anti–Money Laundering (AML) efforts after 9/11. Although the two have similarities on the surface, a deeper look reveals more differences than similarities. In fact, some have rightly called terrorist funding “money laundering...

Modern theories of the firm remain focused on transaction costs, operational efficiency, employee motivation, leadership, strategy and other related factors. While any of these may support our success at various times, none of them alone will facilitate it in the long run. Even strategy, while vitally important, is set at a point in time and...

In what ways has financial crime hurt you? Most people would respond with a yawn. We might think it is limited to a few fraudulent schemes that deprive a small number of people of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. While we might sympathize with victims of such schemes, we often fail to...

Don’t expect this to be either of the typical articles about diversity. I’m here not to fawn over its benefits nor to rant about who does or doesn’t get hired. I’m here, instead, to ask why we react to it in the baffling way we do, why it often accomplishes the exact opposite of its...

Several comments in response to my recent competency-focused post led me to also consider the importance of curiosity in the workplace. Interestingly enough, recent experiences have given me a chance to see firsthand the benefits of nurturing curiosity and how to do so as part of the DNA of the work environment. Curiosity is a vital element...

Money laundering is a crime that many people consider irrelevant to them. If a problem at all, they consider it a problem only for banks. That is far from true. Money laundering has massive effects not only on financial institutions, but also on governments, industries, economies and all individuals. What are the effects of these...

(Updated 2016) Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Funding (CTF) are not the most popular subjects in banking circles. Bankers often find Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) regulations confining and cumbersome. Those regulations are elaborate and strenuous, to the point where even some KYC/CDD team members consider them tedious. The value...

One key to fighting money laundering is understanding its process and the vulnerabilities in each stage of it. In the first stage, the Placement stage, money launderers deposit their criminal revenues in financial institutions. In that stage, detection teams proficient in Know Your Customer (KYC)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD) practices for combatting money laundering do extensive...