Here’s my advice for 2019 in a nutshell: With IFRS 9 impacts and €780 billion of NPL in Europe alone, stop reading about AI and start thinking about optimization.

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.

Organisations will benefit from standing back from the BAU and determining how their analytics and technologies, which identify and support the management of distressed customers, need to change to ensure they secure that competitive advantage.

Are we making the progress we want to see — and regulators demand — on non-performing loans (NPL)?

In this uncertain environment, are retailers doing enough to manage the vast amount of “tick” consumers have amounted?

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority desperately wants to help 3+ million borrowers get out of persistent debt — but will the fixes work the way they want them to?

Last year saw collectors making plans to deal with new regulations, as were their colleagues throughout banking. It’s no surprise then that the most popular collections posts on the FICO Blog dealt with getting ready for IFRS 9 and GDPR.

In 2017, collections professionals were pulled by regulations, digital transformation, customer demands and new ways of working. Will 2018 be better?

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.

The last thing an organization with the tagline “We Power Good” wants to do is inadvertently power bad things — things like money laundering, tax evasion or terrorist financing. That’s why GVNG is now working with FICO.

I predicted last year that in 2017 financial crime compliance would break through the “cloud ceiling,” and we are certai...