Azerbaijan's largest bank has started using FICO software to take an integrated approach to combating financial crime - money laundering and terrorist finance

Fraud and compliance must work together to put the customer at the heart of eKYC strategy

The availability of leaked documents such as the Paradise and Panama Papers provides an alternative source of data that can help identify suspicious organizations

The key to reducing false positives while detecting more money laundering and other financial crimes is to radically improve detection

Decision science and predictive analytics can enable businesses to make the most of all available data to anticipate customer needs and prescribe the best action.

New rules on blocking robocalls could also apply to unwanted calls — a subjective categorization with unknown implications for debt collectors.

Banks and fintechs and other FIs have an opportunity to help customers affected by federal shutdown with flexible collection solutions.

Due to all the fines and scandals in 2018, I am convinced that AI will play a more important role in financial crime compliance.

To comply with tax regulations, it is a must for a bank to check customers against these lists to avoid non-compliance, a damaged reputation and the support of illegal activity.

Adopting machine learning to enhance not just the accuracy of models but also drive efficiency is critical to amplify a key asset - the analytic team – and stay competitive.

The directives are clear for all EU entities, and the lack of compliance in the recent Baltics case has hurt the bank's share price and reputation.

Banks are really starting to take a more integrated approach to financial crime management, and our announcement today about First National Bank (FNB) of Lebanon is a case in point.

Clearly, we need other approaches to AML case management than hiring investigators. An increase in both effectiveness and efficiency of the overall compliance process is required.

Looking ahead to 2018, I predict a rising trend for organizations to do four things better than today in the realm of financial crime.

Ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) identification and verification needs to become an essential component of customer onboarding and ongoing customer due diligence processes.