Financial Services

A Much-Needed Intelligent Approach to Segmentation Anti-money laundering (AML) is a complex and persistent challenge for financial institutions. AI is transforming key elements of the AML workflow and delivering an order of magnitude in performance improvements in the process. Money laundering has become the leading source of compliance fines for North American and European institutions. In 2016 alone, regulators levied...

Are Banks Bracing for Tougher Compliance? Every new AML regulation – or update – is meant to prompt banks and financial institutions to improve their compliance efforts. The latest announcement by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYS DFS), enacting Part 504, is another such regulatory measure. Initially the impact will be felt only in New York, but...

Companies engaged in cross-border commerce are uncertain about how the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may heighten the risk of noncompliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other anti-fraud and corruption regulations. Consider what risks may arise and what controls might be needed to keep an aspiring but misguided employee from successfully executing a payoff without being...

The SEC’s new and proposed rules allow companies to update and simplify their disclosure requirements as part of the SEC’s overall disclosure effectiveness review. This modernization of the SEC disclosure system discussed in the SEC’s Regulation S-K concept release in 2016 is designed to eliminate redundant, overlapping and outdated requirements and align them with current accounting principles and improvement in...

Many public companies are in the process of preparing their annual 10-K reports for the SEC, and for these firms, it’s critical that management have a full understanding of the disclosure requirements. Ron Kral addresses several of the key challenges and questions organizations may have in conducting an effective ICFR evaluation.

In the wake of the Wells Fargo scandal related to the creation of millions of unauthorized accounts, government records revealed that former employees-turned-whistleblowers contacted the federal agency tasked with investigating whistleblower complaints as early as 2009, once again raising questions of how federal agencies can better protect whistleblowers.

The new payment card data security standard went into effect November 1, 2016. Some of the changes may require significant effort to achieve and could result in companies being out of compliance for an extended period of time. Now is the time to review your control environment and begin filling any gaps.

It used to be that no single regulator saw its job as protecting the economy and financial system as a whole, but the convergence of regulations and risk management is bringing transformative change. The EU’s Market Abuse Regulation targets EU financial firms, though U.S. based organizations must take notice as well.

Newspaper headlines blasting the news of major losses for a financial institution due to modeling error have become commonplace. Users must ensure that the models they rely upon are appropriately built and yield useful results, and for more than just regulatory compliance. Good models reduce losses and enhance decision-making.

Regulatory examinations shouldn’t be confrontational events, as the licensee’s and the regulator’s missions should be aligned – that is, honest, fair, equitable and efficient operations. This article discusses points and tips for you to keep in mind as you plan for your first or next examination.

As the use of social media becomes intertwined with daily business activity, a new threat is emerging: hackers are finding new ways of impersonating genuine business contacts, often portraying colleagues via fake profiles in order to gain access to sensitive data that can be used to commit fraud.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has introduced a new auditing standard, AS-18, which is likely to present some challenges for companies – and their auditing committees in particular. In short, AS-18 is meant to enable auditors to best handle “related parties,” but this means more work than making basic inquiries. Read on to learn the full impact of the...