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Fridays with Fintelekt

Fridays with Fintelekt

By Fintelekt

Fintelekt is a specialist in research, training and advisory on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). Watch these podcasts which include conversations on AML/CFT related topics with various industry experts.
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Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Richard Wood and Tim Holt, Agencia

Fridays with FintelektMay 08, 2021

00:00
49:57
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Alia Mahmud, ComplyAdvantage

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Alia Mahmud, ComplyAdvantage

In this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt is in conversation with Alia Mahmud, Global Regulatory Affairs Specialist, ComplyAdvantage.

Alia shares her opinion about the challenges compliance professionals face on a day-to-day basis, and on top of the list are the need for a robust governance framework and a strong second line of defense. She covers how metaverse has proved to be an exciting innovation, but comes with it’s own set of challenges, risks, and new money laundering and fraud typologies.

She then talks about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Crimes, and how they have become one of the most destructive, lucrative and fast growing crimes. The conversation includes identifiers / risk indicators that can be added to transaction monitoring systems, so that these crimes can be detected and caught by financial institutions.

Alia stresses on how technology can be used to improve the quality of reporting by financial institutions, which is one of the biggest challenges faced by regulators globally.

Feb 10, 202324:07
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Robin Lee, Napier

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Robin Lee, Napier

In this week’s Fridays with Fintelekt episode, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services is in conversation with Robin Lee, Head of APAC, Napier.

The conversation begins with Robin’s career path that has led to his current position at Napier, and how his experience has given him insights into the key issues faced by compliance officers in the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) industry.

Robin highlights the important role technology plays in improving quality of reporting, keeping bad actors from misusing the financial system, and making financial institutions more compliant.

He speaks about factors that make a financial institution’s AML compliance programme more effective, including regulatory expectations, approach of the financial institution, quality of technology and the technology team, and education of all employees.

The conversation ends with the outlook for 2023 for AML technology deployment.

Listen to the entire episode for more interesting insights!

Jan 06, 202341:49
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Maria Nizzero, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Maria Nizzero, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)

In this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt is in conversation with Maria Nizzero, Research Fellow, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) about RUSI’s latest research on the Illicit Finance Threat to Democracies.

The research, primarily based on the transatlantic response to illicit finance, proposes 7 straightforward action items based on 3 underlying principles. The action items have universal applicability and hence the research can be valuable for policy makers across the world.

Nov 25, 202233:34
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Lakshmi Kumar, Global Financial Integrity, Washington and Mark Nuttall, Thomson Reuters, Singapore

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Lakshmi Kumar, Global Financial Integrity, Washington and Mark Nuttall, Thomson Reuters, Singapore

In this new season of Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services is in conversation with Lakshmi Kumar, Director of Policy at Global Financial Integrity, Washington and Mark Nuttall, Director of Risk for APAC and MENA at Thomson Reuters, Singapore.

The conversation revolved around the changing structure of supply chains due to various recent geo-political incidents, how these changes are affecting global trade, the consequence on the money laundering and terrorist financing risks, and therefore how regulators, banks and financial institutions should prepare.

Nov 14, 202252:47
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Chrisol Correia, Financial Crime Compliance Consultant

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Chrisol Correia, Financial Crime Compliance Consultant

On Fridays with Fintelekt today, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services hosts Chrisol Correia, Financial Crime Compliance Consultant based in London.

In his career spanning two decades, Chrisol has witnessed the evolution of the financial crime compliance function in terms of capability, resources, scale, infrastructure and culture and towards a broader understanding that good compliance is a business enabler and not a blocker.

In the episode, Chrisol speaks on a variety of issues such as the benefits of technology for smaller institutions, regulatory expectations around risks and controls, collaborative analytics and information sharing.

He finds it encouraging that regulators are now embracing technology and are in a much better position to provide guidance to financial institutions on how technology and automation should be deployed.

He also feels that the next phase in the industry’s future will be around inter-institutional collaboration for multi-directional informational sharing about risks and typologies and a single view of risk across a particular ecosystem.

Mar 11, 202217:33
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Tadeo Jun Claravall, The Financial Crimes
Nov 26, 202123:51
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Peter Piatetsky, Castellum.AI

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Peter Piatetsky, Castellum.AI

On Fridays with Fintelekt today, hear from Peter Piatetsky, Co-Founder and CEO, Castellum.AI as he provides his expert comments and analysis on the global sanctions regime, with host Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt.

Peter has had a stint supporting US military operations and then with the US Treasury as senior policy advisory for Iran. His experience on the challenges in accessing data on sanctions led him to found Castellum.AI with the mission of building a 'google' for compliance, an easy to access online platform at an affordable price point so that anyone globally can find compliance data.

Sanctions have evolved over the years from the level of countries to individuals to sectors. They been used for a variety of reasons from political to counter-terrorism, law enforcement, corruption and human rights. Peter believes that sanctions can be used as a very successful tool if there is a specific goal. The broader that goal, the more difficult it is to achieve via sanctions.

Within the conversation, Peter takes us through many interesting insights on the US sanctions against Turkey, the current situation in Afghanistan, and the US-China conflict following the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law. He also speaks about his research on human rights violations caused due to sanctions.

For all of this and more, tune in to the entire episode!

Oct 01, 202125:29
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ross Delston, Attorney & Expert Witness

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ross Delston, Attorney & Expert Witness

On Fridays with Fintelekt this week, host Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt is joined by Ross Delston, Expert witness, attorney & former US banking regulator (FDIC), who shares his varied experiences in policy responses to trade-based money laundering and trade-based terrorist financing, anti-corruption, corporate transparency and the risks from new technologies.

Our key picks from this interesting conversation full of anecdotes and experiences from Ross's long career are:

  • There hasn't been much progress in combating TBML and that all elements in the trade supply chain should be covered by an AML programme, and made to file STR reports to achieve any tangible results.
  • Ross compares the new AML law in the US, especially in the area of public access to beneficial ownership registries, with that across the European Union, India and other countries.
  • On NFTs and ICOs, he believes speculation may be a more important issue than money laundering fuelled by the huge rise in prices of various classes of assets over the years.
  • Conviction rates in money laundering are often low because understanding the flow of money, and especially explaining it to a jury, is difficult and it may be easier to prosecute the predicate crime rather than money laundering.

For more expert comments, please view the entire episode.

Sep 17, 202130:33
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. J. Michael Skiba, International Financial Crime Expert

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. J. Michael Skiba, International Financial Crime Expert

Fridays with Fintelekt today features J Michael Skiba, international financial crime expert, with host Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services in a conversation around fraud. Michael, popularly known as Dr. Fraud, has had several years of experience helping individuals and corporations become safer against frauds, scams and schemes.

Michael's experience shows that in the financial services sector, fraud is more a matter of opportunities, as 96% of people committing fraud have no criminal history. He says that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of the ecosystem due to the transition to work from home, creating gaps in data security and increased stress on companies. This has also reduced the personal thresholds at which people respond to an opportunity to commit fraud.

With increasing automation and the use of technology, his concern is that the human element in fraud management is getting lost. Corporations need to continuously train people and build expertise in running automated platforms. He recommends the creation of a task force with people across various departments to share insights and create a sense of synergy and cooperation in fighting fraud.

To develop a strong deterrent against fraud, Michael feels that it is not just the creation of laws, but the support and proper enforcement of the laws that is critical. The lack of information sharing is another challenging aspect of fraud detection that needs to be addressed.

Listen to the entire episode for more insights on organisational culture, criminal behaviour and rationalisation of fraud from his book "The Psychology of Fraud".

Sep 10, 202121:14
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jessica Davis, Insight Threat Intelligence

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jessica Davis, Insight Threat Intelligence

Fridays with Fintelekt today features Jessica Davis, President, Insight Threat Intelligence, an expert on terrorist and illicit financing, with host Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services.

Jessica explains the implications of the complex situation in Afghanistan, and the likely evolution of Al Qaeda, ISIL-KP, their own strategic objectives and their relationship with the Taliban in the region. All of these groups are drawing resources from Afghanistan, but counter terrorism financing (CTF) options with the global community are fairly limited, especially without any CTF forces on the ground.

On CTF methods in general, Jessica strongly believes that all of the current measures have negative externalities, and that as a CTF community, some of the human rights or financial implications of CTF measures may have been glossed over. There is a need for the AML/CFT community to take a long hard look at regulations and recommendations and ensure that they are tied directly to observable and prevalent terror financing mechanisms.

Jessica is the author of the highly rated book Women in Modern Terrorism (2017) and is slated to publish another one Illicit Money: Financing Terrorism in the 21st Century in September 2021. In the conversation, she also speaks about the motivation behind her research and the various perspectives she has explored in her books.

Visit the website of Insight Threat Intelligence https://www.insightthreatintel.com/ for more insights and analysis around Jessica's work and the books she has authored.

Sep 03, 202136:35
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Shawki Ahwash, North Africa Commercial Bank

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Shawki Ahwash, North Africa Commercial Bank

This week Fridays with Fintelekt hosted by Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt features Shawki Ahwash, Head of AML/CFT & Sanctions Division North Africa Commercial Bank from Beirut, Lebanon.

A career banker, Shawki enjoys sharing the knowledge that he has gained with others through training and teaching. He feels that AML/CFT is a dynamic and evolving field and technology has changed everything about it - be it onboarding, profiling or monitoring of customers and transactions.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, banks have had to take proactive measures to combat fraud and cybercrime and have had to sensitize their clients. The need of the hour is to upgrade and re-skill front-line staff that is dealing directly with the customer.

For AML/CFT to become more effective, he recommends that banks and financial institutions conduct a separate risk assessment for sanctions and AML, ascertain the quality of data to reduce false positives and move away from filing defensive STRs. High quality STRs which provide the underlying predicate offence, an elaborate narrative, profile of clients and the circumstances of the transaction to the extent possible will contribute to the regulator's database and aid the understanding of newer trends and typologies.

On the new AML law in the UAE, Shawki thinks that many Arab or GCC countries may copy some of the steps - around screening, targeted financial sanctions, DNFBPs, etc. - to fortify their regulatory environment on anti-financial crime.

For many regional trends and insights on crypto, financial inclusion, screening, and others, tune in to the entire episode.

Aug 27, 202123:43
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Bharath Vellore, LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Bharath Vellore, LexisNexis Risk Solutions

This week on Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt is in conversation with Bharath Vellore, Managing Director, APAC, LexisNexis Risk Solutions on a variety of issues within financial crime compliance and the role of technology.

Some insights shared from Bharath's decade-long experience working with Accuity and now with LexisNexis:

- There is a lot of progress in the awareness of money laundering risks across sectors and across types of institutions. While banks have had years of experience and knowledge around compliance, the intent to comply is present within newer sectors like fintechs or DNFBPs. They may have a much shorter learning curve to reach the maturity level of banks.

- Now more than ever, technology is becoming the most important tool in the kit to address compliance, and to gain on 3 Es - viz. Efficiency, Effectiveness and Explainability.

- There is growing awareness amongst banks as well as freight forwarders and cargo companies on the risks from trade, but there is more to be done on digitising trade information flows.

- Mule accounts are risks of a unique kind that overlay the world of fraud and financial crime, and will require efforts and information flow across these two departments, often working in silos in financial institutions.

- A collaborative approach by regulators is the best way for them to get a deeper understanding of emerging technologies in the fintech or crypto industry, and for industry players to get the confidence of being aware of the risks, the gaps, and the compliance required.

For many more interesting nuggets, listen to the entire episode.

Aug 20, 202132:05
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sofia El Mansouri, Compliantly LLC

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sofia El Mansouri, Compliantly LLC

This week on Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt converses with Sofia El Mansouri, Compliance Consultant from Lebanon, also known as The Compliance Lady.

Anti-corruption and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic feature primarily in this episode, with Sofia explaining noteworthy developments and global anti-corruption initiatives over the last few years. She specifically emphasises the role of the non-financial sectors and professional enablers in transnational corruption and whitewashing of financial crime proceeds.

The impact of the pandemic has been significant and raised considerable risks of questionable commissions, kickbacks, over inflated prices, and facilitation payments, even as policy makers and governments are consumed with urgent relief and such priorities, rather than dealing with corruption.

Sofia calls the 'Biden Memo' (the National Security Study Memorandum recently introduced by the US) a game-changer, expected to bring in reforms not just in the US but possibly also elsewhere as more countries follow suit. She advises the compliance community not just within financial institutions but also investment advisors and professional service providers such as lawyers, accountants to take proactive steps to prepare for increased AML enforcements and more stringent regulatory requirements.

For more expert insights on this topic, listen to the full episode.

Aug 13, 202121:12
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Leah Callon-Butler, Emfarsis

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Leah Callon-Butler, Emfarsis

In this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt, host Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services is in conversation with Leah Callon-Butler, Director, Emfarsis on cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption, its challenges and potential benefits to society.

Leah’s company Emfarsis, helps early stage companies with their product to market fit. She says that often when a new technology is evolving, it isn’t clear to consumers how it can solve their needs. The same goes for blockchain and cryptocurrencies and Leah works to tell the right stories about how this technology can improve people’s lives.

An example is her video about the Play to Earn NFT game – Axie Infinity – which has garnered considerable popularity amongst people affected by the pandemic by helping them with an alternative revenue source as it allows cashing out into real money (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo-BrASMHU4).

While Leah is all for allowing innovators to build new solutions, she recognises the role of regulation in fostering trust and confidence, in making regulated financial institutions enter the space and make it more accessible. However, there is a fine balance to be achieved. She feels that regulating too early without proper industry consultation and understanding of how the technology works could lead to unintended consequences. She thinks that blockchain technology could be more useful to compliance and potentially be a better way to prevent crime.

For more such insights around the challenges with the FATF travel rule, the financial inclusion potential of the crypto economy, and a variety of resources that the compliance community can use to keep in touch with developments in this space, watch the entire episode.

Jul 16, 202130:03
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Colin Camp, Pelican.ai

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Colin Camp, Pelican.ai

On Fridays with Fintelekt this week, Colin Camp, Senior Director, Business Development and Sales, APAC of Pelican is in conversation with Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services on access to data, artificial intelligence and financial crime compliance.

According to Colin, the only way banks can get on top of their compliance issues now is to be smarter and use modern technology.

Financial institutions need not rip off their old technology for new, but to look at how AI solutions can be used to supplement and improve the existing applications and to make compliance more efficient by employing the new tools.

Among other issues in the conversation, Colin speaks of the challenges around Trade-Based Money Laundering and how it has risen the ladder of priorities of regulators and governments. However, it is linked with other issues such as trade-based terrorist financing, trade-based fraud, human and wildlife trafficking. To truly stamp out the issue, there is a need to facilitate the sharing of data.

Jul 02, 202125:28
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring F. Christopher Calabia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring F. Christopher Calabia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

On this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt. Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services is in conversation with F. Christopher Calabia, Senior Advisor, Supervisory & Regulatory Policy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation about financial inclusion and the role of digital financial services.

The Gates Foundation supports work that addresses inequities in healthcare, education and economic empowerment, especially for women and girls and believes that access to digital financial tools allows the unbanked and underbanked sections of the population to lift themselves and their families out of poverty sustainably.

The Foundation therefore has a direct interest in promoting appropriate regulation and support for the relatively new business model of digital financial services, and in ensuring that it is not abused for money laundering or terrorism financing.

Chris applauds the FATF’s initiative in broadening the dialogue and reaching out proactively to a wider set of stakeholders to study the unintended consequences of its standards. The consultative process will bring in voices that have not been represented in these discussions before – such as the poor, women, advocacy groups and international development organisations.

The conversation explores many more themes around the role of stablecoins in financial inclusion, regulatory evolution and how it can keep pace with technology trends, and the need for innovative approaches to regulation.

Jun 25, 202119:45
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Irfan Yar, Global Counter-Terrorism Institute LLC

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Irfan Yar, Global Counter-Terrorism Institute LLC

On Fridays with Fintelekt today, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt is in conversation with Irfan Yar, Research Fellow, Global Counter Terrorism Institute.

Irfan questions the progress achieved by regulation and advancements in technology in curbing terrorism financing, when ironically the scale of global terrorism is increasing.

He believes the primary reason is due to the focus on curbing the conventional methods of terror financing such as banking, charitable donations or wire transfers, while ignoring the role of state sponsorship, which is the biggest income source for terrorism. He also highlights the correlation between terrorism and transnational organised crime.

Irfan's advice to governments and the private sector is to look beyond cash and money as sources of terrorism financing to gold, precious metals and high value items which can be used to exchange with cash or to trade with drugs. Working towards reducing corruption is also critical, as it can help illegal actors and terrorists in transferring money.

Watch the entire episode for more on the impact of economic sanctions, understanding the domestic socio-politico-economic drivers of terrorism, international cooperation and financial inclusion.

Jun 18, 202124:54
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr David Utzke, Cryptoeconomics & DLT Expert

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr David Utzke, Cryptoeconomics & DLT Expert

In this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt, join in for a unique insight into the world of crypto as Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services hosts Dr. David Utzke, Associate Professor at University of Advancing Technology & U.S. Treasury IRS CID Cybercrimes Unit.

Speaking from years of research and experience in distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain, David provides a historical perspective to the development of cryptocurrencies, clarifies many of the prevailing misconceptions, explains the challenges in regulating the space, and provides his take on the future of money.

Understanding the technology, he says, is the key to staying ahead of the criminals, whether you are a consumer, a financial institution, an investor or a regulator.

Jun 11, 202133:23
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Isabella Chase, Royal United Services Institute

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Isabella Chase, Royal United Services Institute

In this episode of Fridays with Fintelekt, Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services is in conversation with Isabella Chase, Research Fellow at Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS), Royal United Services Institute.

Isabella speaks about the motivation behind RUSI's latest research on understanding and evaluating the impact of the FATF framework on financial inclusion, and how the pandemic triggered a fresh urgency to understand the barriers to financial inclusion as governments around the world rushed to get disbursement and support payments to their populations. The risk-based approach allows for identification of low-risk scenarios and a proportionate application of due diligence controls, but in practice, there are several challenges to achieving the balance between robust financial crime controls with financial inclusion objectives.

The conversation continues on to the January 2020 AML regulations introduced in the UK and their impact on the high-value art world, the roller coaster of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the similarities in risk characteristics with the early days of cryptocurrencies.

Watch this course until the end for Isabella's choice of the top three areas that need immediate global attention in the fight against financial crime!

Jun 04, 202123:41
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Tom Cardamone, Global Financial Integrity

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Tom Cardamone, Global Financial Integrity

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Tom Cardamone, President & CEO, Global Financial Integrity.

In this episode, Tom speaks about - 

Overview of Global Financial Integrity (GFI) and the ecosystem they impact; Impact of GFI’s work on illicit financial flows across the globe; Understanding of integrity in the global financial system; Difficulties associated with promoting transparency, transnational crime and corruption; Customs corruption in trade transactions; GFTrade’s contribution to the governments to enhance integrity of trade; Current AML Ecosystem; Challenges GFI faces; Vision of GFI

May 27, 202128:46
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Richard Wood and Tim Holt, Agencia

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Richard Wood and Tim Holt, Agencia

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Richard Wood & Tim Holt, Agencia.

In this episode, Richard & Tim speaks about -

Priority areas for banks and other financial institutions to address to make their AML/CFT frameworks more effective; Quality of STR reporting; Gaps in the investigations system and policing from an AML point of view; Expectations of law enforcement or intelligence agencies from banks and financial institutions; Recommendation to regulators and banking sector to understand better and identify and mitigate risks associated with Covid-19; Benefits of public-private partnership and information sharing; Low asset recovery and confiscation because of inadequate legislation; Lacunae in training and awareness of AML and CFT.

May 08, 202149:57
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Edgar Lopez, Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Edgar Lopez, Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Edgar Lopez, Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit.

In this episode, Edgar speaks about -

Notable achievements of Gibraltar FIU; Highlights of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) conducted by Gibraltar in 2020; Difference between running an NRA for a financial centre, like Gibraltar as compared to any other mainstream jurisdiction; Improving the understanding of terror financing risk and strengthening the quality of Suspicious Transaction Reports; Framework for international co-operation; Expectations from reporting entities.

May 08, 202128:50
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Claire Wilson, Consultant & Chairperson, HKICPA Disciplinary Panel

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Claire Wilson, Consultant & Chairperson, HKICPA Disciplinary Panel

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Claire Wilson, Consultant & Chairperson, HKICPA Disciplinary Panel.

In this episode, Claire speaks about -

Key findings of the paper “Cryptocurrency: The Future of Finance?” published by Claire in 2019; Major developments in virtual currencies; Impact of large companies investing in Bitcoin on the cryptocurrency ecosystem; Banning cryptocurrencies and its impact; Advice to governments on the fence that are neither banning nor allowing crypto trading; Advice to compliance professionals on how to protect their financial institutions from risks associated with cryptocurrencies.

May 08, 202119:34
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jackie Shinfield, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jackie Shinfield, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Jackie Shinfield, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.

In this episode, Jackie speaks about -

Changes in the regulatory compliance over the years; Recent investigations in Canada and their impact; Need for regulators to keep up with the private sector; Regulations in payments industry; Advice to compliance professionals and much more.

Apr 09, 202119:36
 Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sujata Dasgupta, Global Head - Financial Crime Compliance Advisory, Tata Consultancy Services

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sujata Dasgupta, Global Head - Financial Crime Compliance Advisory, Tata Consultancy Services

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Sujata Dasgupta, Global Head - Financial Crime Compliance Advisory, Tata Consultancy Services.

In this episode, Sujata speaks about -

Technology trends in AML/CFT Compliance and the role of employees of reporting entities evolving as a result; Impact of emergence of FinTech and RegTech on large IT services or product technology companies in the AML/CFT ecosystem; Effectiveness of penalties issued by regulators; Awareness of AML Compliance in the smaller/regional financial institutions and lacunae in the banking/financial system to detect and report transactions.

Mar 26, 202121:17
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dawne Spicer, Executive Director, Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF)

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dawne Spicer, Executive Director, Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF)

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Dawne Spicer, Executive Director, Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).

In this episode, Dawne speaks about -

AML/CFT compliance challenges faced by CFATF members and advantages of being part of smaller jurisdictions; Measures taken by Caribbean countries to improve their AML/CFT regulation and supervision; Cryptocurrency regulations and evolving ecosystem; Risks emerging as a result of Covid-19 pandemic in the Caribbean region; The Liechtenstein Initiative and banking perception of human trafficking and modern slavery as an AML/CFT risk; Areas of co-operation that might result in consistency in AML framework across the globe.

Mar 25, 202127:47
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Mark Nuttall, Hill & Associates Limited

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Mark Nuttall, Hill & Associates Limited

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Mark Nuttall, Hill & Associates Limited.

In this episode, Mark speaks about -

Reasons for low rate of conviction or asset confiscation related to money laundering and terrorist financing crime; Challenges faced by AML/CFT ecosystem because of crime becoming increasingly multinational; Ways in which AML/CFT stakeholders can become better engaged with combating crimes like human trafficking, wildlife trafficking and other environmental crimes; Increasing efficiency in international cooperation and need for rationalization in the existing cooperation mechanisms; Information sharing with the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and impact of Covid-19 on the money laundering and terrorist financing landscape and cyber crime.

Mar 25, 202134:18
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. Christian Kaunert, International Centre for Policing and Security

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. Christian Kaunert, International Centre for Policing and Security

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Dr. Christian Kaunert, International Centre for Policing and Security.

In this episode, Christian speaks about -

International co-operation around countering terrorism and commonalities in the counter terrorism approaches across various geographies; Success of economic sanctions to combat terrorist; Role of international organizations, like the FATF, in influencing country’s policies and procedures or setting standards and their implementation by organizations; Emerging typologies of terrorism financing as a result of Covid-19 pandemic; Role of banks and other financial institutions in fighting terrorism.

Mar 10, 202117:40
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. Scott Roberton, Wildlife Conservation Society

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr. Scott Roberton, Wildlife Conservation Society

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Dr. Scott Roberton, Wildlife Conservation Society.

In this episode, Scott speaks about -

Work that WCS is engaged in globally and Scott’s role within WCS; Challenges faced by WCS; Ways in which wildlife traffickers move money through the financial system; Role of financial sector regulators; Ways of increasing efficiency of banking and financial services sector and their role in curbing wildlife and environmental crime; Co-operation with similar NGOs to achieve better results at a global level.

Mar 10, 202119:43
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring M C Ponnanna, Al Jazeera Exchange

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring M C Ponnanna, Al Jazeera Exchange

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and M C Ponnanna, Al Jazeera Exchange.

In this episode, Ponnanna speaks about -

Key changes brought in by the new AML Law implemented by Qatar Central Bank; Current stand of cryptocurrencies in Qatar; Risks associated with currency exchange houses; Impact of Covid-19 on operations; Latest trends in technology implementation in the area of AML/CFT Compliance; Factors that should be considered while implementing a new technology.

Mar 09, 202130:16
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Antoine Karam, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Antoine Karam, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Antoine Karam, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

In this episode, Antoine speaks about -

discussion about the software – goAML – developed by UNODC and being used by various Financial Intelligence Units globally; Benefits of using the software; Support provided by UNODC while implementing the software in various countries; Challenges faced during such implementations, Future plans.

Mar 09, 202122:57
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Diphat Tembo, Director - Supervision and Prevention Department, Financial Intelligence Centre, Zambia

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Diphat Tembo, Director - Supervision and Prevention Department, Financial Intelligence Centre, Zambia

This episode of Fridays with Fintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Diphat Tembo, Director - Supervision and Prevention Department, Financial Intelligence Centre, Zambia.

In this episode, Diphat speaks about -

  • the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), which functions as the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Zambia;
  • summary of the country's level of compliance with the FATF Recommendations and the effectiveness of Zambia’s AML/CFT system, as well as follow up work that has taken place on strengthening the system based on the last mutual evaluation;
  • key highlights from the FIC's Annual Trends Report;
  • practical difficulties that banks and other reporting entities in Zambia face while complying with regulatory reporting requirements and implementation of the right AML frameworks in their institutions;
  • thoughts on whether the FATF process for mutual evaluation and ranking of countries is democratic; and
  • FIC's expectations from banks, financial institutions and other reporting entities in the country to ensure that AML/CFT compliance improves in Zambia.
Nov 20, 202026:30
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring George Pearmain, Director - Financial Crime Strategy, Government of Jersey

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring George Pearmain, Director - Financial Crime Strategy, Government of Jersey

This episode of #FridayswithFintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and George Pearmain, Director - Financial Crime Strategy, Government of Jersey, covering a range of topics including -

- the key highlights, findings and recommendations of the recent National Risk Assessment (NRA) that will be useful in other countries gaining a better understanding of the threats and vulnerabilities facing Jersey;

- managing the risk of international finance centres (IFC) facing being used either as placement centres or as transit points for large funds related to money laundering or corruption;

- impact of the NRA on revision or formation of regulations and laws related to financial crime compliance for various sectors; and

- differences in running n NRA for an IFC, as compared to a ‘mainstream’ jurisdiction and critical success factors for a successful NRA.

Nov 12, 202019:17
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Alma Angotti, Partner, Guidehouse

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Alma Angotti, Partner, Guidehouse

This episode of #FridayswithFintelekt features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt and Alma Angotti, Partner and Co-Leader of the Global Investigations and Compliance Practice at Guidehouse.  In this episode, Alma speaks about -  

- learnings from her long career spanning regulation, advisory and law enforcement;  

- the ‘tone from the top’, building a culture of AML/CFT compliance, and reinforcing this across levels within the organisation; understanding where the breakdown in compliance usually happens; 

- the challenges that regulators are facing and what might be required to create a more effective system bearing in mind recent incidents such as the FINCEN leaks; 

- systemic deficiencies caused by current regulatory approaches at financial intelligence units and possible solutions; 

- best practices that banks and other reporting entities should follow when dealing with regulators and law enforcement agencies; and 

- advice to the compliance community to ensure that they can still be effective and efficient at their jobs.

Nov 06, 202016:32
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Daniel Thelesklaf, AML/CFT and Anti-Corruption Expert and Former Director - Swiss FIU and Moneyval

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Daniel Thelesklaf, AML/CFT and Anti-Corruption Expert and Former Director - Swiss FIU and Moneyval

This episode of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services and Daniel Thelesklaf, AML/CFT and Anti-Corruption Expert and Former Director of the Swiss FIU and Moneyval on:

- Top expectations from banks and other reporting entities and the regional evolution AML/CFT;

- Regulatory arbitrage exploited by money launderers due to differences in regulatory/compliance maturity amongst nations and discussion on specific areas of international co-operation that might result in more consistency in AML frameworks applied across the globe;

- Scope for improvement in effective implementation of global standards, and whether the FATF process for mutual evaluations is democratic;

- Thoughts on modern slavery and the Liechtenstein initiative;

- Challenges that come up while setting up public private partnerships, realistic expectations and best practices; and

- Advice to compliance officers in reporting entities to deal with the currently volatile regulatory, political and social environment.

Oct 29, 202030:15
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Tanya McCartney, CEO and ED, Bahamas Financial Services Board

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Tanya McCartney, CEO and ED, Bahamas Financial Services Board

This episode of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services and Tanya McCartney, CEO and Executive Director, Bahamas Financial Services Board on the role and responsibilities of the Bahamas Financial Services Board; the current level of compliance and effectiveness with the FATF Recommendations and the follow up or remediation work that is underway or specific reforms that have been undertaken towards strengthening the integrity of the AML/CFT regime; whether the FATF process for mutual evaluation and ranking of countries is democratic; practical difficulties that banks and other reporting entities in The Bahamas face while complying with regulatory reporting requirements and implementation of the right AML frameworks in their institutions; what are regulators doing to play a dual regulatory and developmental role to shepherd the reporting entities to comply better; and the position of banks, financial institutions and other types of reporting entities in the country on the increased regulation and efforts to prevent financial crime in The Bahamas.  

The book mentioned in this episode - Strategies for Success: A Roadmap for the Compliance Professional in Financial Services, authored by Tanya McCartney is available at https://www.amazon.com/Books-Tanya-McCartney/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ATanya+McCartney

Oct 23, 202020:09
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Philip Hunkin, Director - Financial Intelligence Unit, Isle of Man

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Philip Hunkin, Director - Financial Intelligence Unit, Isle of Man

This episode of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services and Philip Hunkin, Director - Financial Intelligence Unit, Isle of Man, on bringing together the financial sector and other reporting entities, both from a regulatory and development point of view; steps that have been taken to strengthen beneficial ownership controls; views on imposing penalties; risk assessment on the impact of COVID-19 in respect of financial crime on the Isle of Man; experiences around public private partnerships; the critical success factors for Isle of Man in ensuring that risks emanating due to money laundering and terrorist financing are minimised in a sustainable manner; and ongoing expectations from reporting entities.

Oct 16, 202023:22
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ian Pemberton, Criminal Intelligence Officer, INTERPOL

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ian Pemberton, Criminal Intelligence Officer, INTERPOL

This episode of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services and Ian Pemberton, Criminal Intelligence Officer, INTERPOL, on the challenges for policing agencies due to the recent surge in fraud and cybercrime; trends on professional money laundering; critical success factors for public private partnerships; how banks should improve the quality of reporting on terror financing in a way that it is useful for law enforcement agencies to investigate better.

Oct 09, 202025:48
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Matt Friedman, CEO, The Mekong Club

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Matt Friedman, CEO, The Mekong Club

This edition of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation on Modern Slavery, between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services (https://www.fintelekt.com) and Matt Friedman, CEO, The Mekong Club (https://www.themekongclub.org) on the most challenging aspects of working in the area of countering modern slavery; changes required in the perception of bank compliance officers to detect suspicious transactions and better preparing banks to implement red flag indicators or conduct due diligence more effectively; the nexus between criminals, politicians and the police; and advice to compliance teams on tangible steps they should take to help stop modern slavery.

Oct 02, 202018:50
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr Elena Scherschneva, Independent Expert and Former Head of Austria FIU

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr Elena Scherschneva, Independent Expert and Former Head of Austria FIU

This edition of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services (https://www.fintelekt.com) and Dr Elena Scherschneva, Independent Expert (https://www.scherschneva.at) & Former Head of Austria FIU, on the most effective regulatory parts of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive; the priority areas that banks and financial institutions need to address to make their AML/CFT programmes more effective; pointers to improve the quality of suspicious transaction reports; the importance of financial information sharing and public private partnerships; and advice to AML/CFT compliance officers to become more successful in their careers.

Sep 25, 202022:54
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr Rohan Bedi, Singapore Financial Crime Compliance Association

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Dr Rohan Bedi, Singapore Financial Crime Compliance Association

This edition of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services (www.fintelekt.com) and Dr Rohan Bedi, Executive Director, Singapore Financial Crime Compliance Association (SFCCA) (www.sfcca.com.sg) on the role and objectives of SFCCA; fintechs and bigtechs; AML compliance in digital banking; new AML/CFT challenges; enhancing Enterprise Wide Risk Assessment; effectiveness vs. efficiency while implementing FATF standards; and culture and conduct issues.

Sep 18, 202024:47
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Julian Dixon, CEO, Napier

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Julian Dixon, CEO, Napier

This edition of "Fridays with Fintelekt" features a conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services and Julian Dixon, CEO, Napier on financial crime trends; how should banks be better prepared to identify and deal with risk; differences in robustness of AML/CFT programs in different banks; overcoming automation hurdles; factors motivating banks to use innovation and better technologies for KYC and AML monitoring; and the use of artificial intelligence to facilitate faster and more efficient processing of suspicious transactions reports.

Sep 11, 202018:46
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jermy Prenio, Senior Advisor - Financial Stability Institute, Bank for International Settlements

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jermy Prenio, Senior Advisor - Financial Stability Institute, Bank for International Settlements

This episode features a 15 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Jermy Prenio, Senior Advisor - Financial Stability Institute, Bank for International Settlements, where the following points were discussed-

A brief overview of SupTech, its evolution and current status of adoption, Data-related challenges faced by AML/CFT authorities, Tools developed or being used by both AML/CFT supervisors and FIUs and implementation issues, SupTech success stories that could/should be used by other regulators or FIUs.

Aug 21, 202015:12
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ravi Lahoti, Chief Audit Executive, Bandhan Bank

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Ravi Lahoti, Chief Audit Executive, Bandhan Bank

This episode features a 20 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Ravi Lahoti, Chief Audit Executive, Bandhan Bank where the following points were discussed-

The role of audit in the world of AML/CFT, Elements of an effective AML audit and how it should be conducted, How can AML/CFT audit findings be implemented to improve the compliance level in the bank going forward, Misconceptions about AML audits and How can AML audits contribute to increasing the effectiveness of an AML/CFT programme in the organisation.

Aug 14, 202019:26
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Christiaan Barnard, Head - Financial Intelligence Unit, New Zealand

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Christiaan Barnard, Head - Financial Intelligence Unit, New Zealand

This episode features a 30 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Christiaan Barnard, Head - Financial Intelligence Unit, New Zealand where the following points were discussed-

The bringing together of financial sector and other reporting entities from a regulatory and development point of view, Overview of the National Risk Assessment (NRA) on money laundering and terrorist financing was conducted in NZ last year, Trends in filing of suspicious transaction reports and thoughts on quality of reporting, The democracy of the FATF process for mutual evaluation and ranking of countries, Functions and outcomes of the New Zealand Public Private Partnership and Critical success factors for NZ in ensuring that risks emanating due to money laundering and terrorist financing are minimised in a sustainable manner.

Aug 07, 202028:60
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Duncan Jepson, Founder and Managing Director, Liberty Shared

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Duncan Jepson, Founder and Managing Director, Liberty Shared

This episode features a 45 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Duncan Jepson, Founder & Managing Director , Liberty Shared where the following points were discussed-

The extent of modern slavery globally, and geo-political issues that have influenced trends over the last decade, The expansion of modern slavery from being a human rights issue to also being a financial crime issue – the causes, milestones and resultant knowledge for the banking community, Advice to banks and regulators doing enough to better identify and report suspicious transactions related to modern slavery, The relation of proceeds of modern slavery to other predicate crimes and indirect impact on national security, Steps to be taken by banks to implement the correct red flag indicators and conduct optimum customer due diligence to identify possible offences in their customers’ supply chain of operations.

Jun 19, 202045:06
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sandeep Mehra, CEO, Academy of Fraud Investigations

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sandeep Mehra, CEO, Academy of Fraud Investigations

This episode features a 20 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Sandeep Mehra, Chief Executive Officer, Academy of Fraud Investigations where the following points were discussed-

Areas of banking business that are most prone to financial fraud, Reasons for frauds coming to the fore at very late stages when it becomes a major scam, Fraud prevention techniques and pre-requisites for a good investigation team, Building a good working partnership between business, control and investigation teams in the bank, Role of a trained investigation team in assisting with recovering assets, especially in cases of civil recovery.

Jun 13, 202020:28
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sydney Asubo, Executive Director, Financial Intelligence Authority, Uganda

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Sydney Asubo, Executive Director, Financial Intelligence Authority, Uganda

This episode features a 60 minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Sydney Asubo, Executive Director, Financial Intelligence Authority, Uganda at which the following points were discussed-

Overview of the FIA, the challenges it faced since it was formed, and how it galvanized the financial sector and other reporting entities / accountable persons together to ensure adequate reporting of suspicious transactions, Key findings of the NRA, its recommendations, and the subsequent progress in the country in terms of policy implementation, Changes in levels of predicate offences over the last few years, both domestic and trans-national, Trends and expectations in quality and quantity of reporting suspicious transactions reports and Is the FATF process for mutual evaluation and ranking of countries democratic, especially since many countries would have fewer resources and therefore should there be different methodologies for countries with differing challenges, so that they are not unfairly positioned on the global financial stage

Jun 05, 202057:35
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Liat Shetret, Senior Adviser - Crypto Policy and Regulation, Elliptic

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Liat Shetret, Senior Adviser - Crypto Policy and Regulation, Elliptic

This episode features a 30-minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Liat Shetret, Senior Adviser - Crypto Policy and Regulation, Elliptic, at which the following points are discussed:

Trends on cryptocurrencies being used to launder money and subsequent risks and challenges for banks in raising suspicious transaction alerts, The role of blockchain technology to counter specific AML/CFT risks, Intermingling of illicit funds between fiat currency and crypto currency, Regulatory stand across jurisdictions on dealing with cryptocurrencies, Preparing law enforcement agencies, tax authorities and the judiciary to better understand cases involving cryptocurrencies

May 29, 202027:56
Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jonathan Rogerson, Head of Business, Strategy & Direction, APAC South, Accuity

Fridays with Fintelekt featuring Jonathan Rogerson, Head of Business, Strategy & Direction, APAC South, Accuity

This episode features a 45-minute conversation between Shirish Pathak, Managing Director, Fintelekt Advisory Services, and Jonathan Rogerson, Head of Business, Strategy & Direction, APAC South, Accuity, at which the following points are discussed:

  • Business drivers for the emergence of digital banks across the region
  • Impact on digital banking because of COVID-19
  • Specific AML risks that are emerging as a result of the shift to digital banking, especially due to the face-to-face customer contact model
  • Considerations for digital banks while performing screening, especially as transactions are real time
  • Keeping the balance between compliance and competitiveness
  • Aspects that are likely to attract greater monitoring or scrutiny going forward due to evolving regulations
May 26, 202047:23