When most walk into a bank, they deal with the public-facing staff. Bank tellers. Maybe a loan officer. But what many don’t realize is that there is a whole group of personnel behind the scenes, yet they are on the front line against financial crime. They are the anti-money laundering compliance staff. You don’t interact with them directly, but they’re the ones looking for signs of suspicious financial activity. Sara Beth Felix is an anti-money laundering expert and consultant who helps banks get their compliance act together. Designated host Yaya Jata Fanusie recently spoke to Sarah Beth Felix about how good AML experts are wired differently and need to be active and perceptive in identifying suspicious transactions within their institutions.

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Designated’s Proud Sponsors: Amid escalating regulatory demands and a surge in fraud, the need for financial institutions to remain compliant, efficient, and informed is paramount. What’s getting in the way? Manual processes? Lack of insight to regulatory changes? Lack of transparency for decision making?​ ​ With Thomson Reuters Risk & Fraud Solutions, financial institutions achieve more than 40% more efficient customer onboarding – making their teams even faster at reducing risk to fraudulent losses at the same time.​ ​ Thomson Reuters Risk & Fraud Solutions empower financial institutions to safely onboard and continuously evaluate customers, members, and vendors and increase new business securely through automated technology.​ ​ Thomson Reuters equips institutions to navigate complexities with confidence by elevating beyond mere risk management, setting new industry standards for decision-making and operational efficiency. Visit TR.com/CLEAR to learn more.

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Hummingbird is a compliance operating system reimagining what's possible from financial crime investigations. By providing financial institutions with fast and easy data integrations, seamless report filing, and time-saving automation and AI tools, Hummingbird helps those on the front lines of financial crime quickly get to the heart of each investigation. Today’s criminals are sophisticated, tech-savvy, and agile. The tools used to fight them should be too. To learn more, visit hummingbird.co or follow us on LinkedIn.

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Illicit Edge: Breaking News for Financial Crime Yaya Jata Fanusie, a former CIA analyst with years of experience in counterterrorism and financial crime investigations, will go behind the scenes with the professionals working to safeguard the global financial system from illicit acts.

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The textbooks tell us financial intelligence is the process of gathering and analyzing financial activities in an effort to uncover threats or criminal dealings. But financial intelligence is more than just studying bank accounts and online transactions. To make an impact, financial intelligence requires bold, creative action in the real world. Perhaps no one is more suited to offer perspective on financial intelligence than John Cassara. John is a 26-year veteran of the US government’s efforts to take down financial criminals. During his time as a CIA Case Officer and a Treasury Special Agent at both the Secret Service and U.S. Customs Service, John conducted investigations into money laundering, smuggling, terrorist financing, and weapons trafficking throughout Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. He even went undercover as an arms dealer during a two-year detail to the US Customs Service. John recently spoke with Designated host Yaya Jata Fanusie and detailed how he parlayed his field experience as a collector of human intelligence in the CIA into the world of illicit finance investigations.

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Designated’s Proud Sponsors: K2 Integrity is a global leader in risk management, compliance, investigations, and monitoring, combining the expertise of industry pioneers with interdisciplinary teams and advanced technology to protect our clients’ operations, reputation, and financial security. K2 Integrity is dedicated to ensuring, strengthening, and validating financial and commercial integrity and security. We understand that critical moments define an organization’s success. We strive to build financial and institutional integrity, reduce risk, and uncover truth. Our commitment to superior intelligence, expert analysis, and insightful solutions helps our clients navigate complexity and achieve better outcomes. To learn more about how K2 Integrity is revolutionizing the management of risk, visit http://www.k2integrity.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.

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Illicit Edge: Breaking News for Financial Crime Yaya Jata Fanusie, a former CIA analyst with years of experience in counterterrorism and financial crime investigations, will go behind the scenes with the professionals working to safeguard the global financial system from illicit acts. #finance #cia #espionage #financialcrime #china #mafia

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