What happens when every control, every system, and every decision is tested not in theory, but by enforcement?

In this premiere episode of The Regulatory Files: AML Series, we examine the year that redefined global financial crime oversight.
2025 — a year of record-breaking fines, cross-border coordination, and a seismic shift in regulator expectations.

From Barclays and Monzo in the UK to Revolut in the EU and TD Bank across North America, this episode dissects the enforcement wave that has reshaped how compliance, risk, and legal teams think about accountability, governance, and resilience.

🎧 Featuring:

Alfred Frodes — Legal and Compliance Officer at Complia, opening the episode with a sharp lens on enforcement, accountability, and the growing synchronization of global regulators.

Phoebe Banks — Compliance Transformation Officer at Complia, guiding the deep-dive analysis across the first and second segments, breaking down the facts, frameworks, and failures underpinning the 2025 enforcement wave.

Adetoyese Adedokun — Compliance Lead at Complia, drawing out operational lessons for MLROs, auditors, and compliance professionals — translating regulatory findings into practical, auditable action steps.

Across 30 minutes, the episode explores:

• Why 2025 marks a new era of enforcement intensity coordinated, data-driven, and uncompromising.

• The anatomy of institutional failure through the Three Lines of Defense — where governance, culture, and audit intersect.

• Lessons from the FCA, EBA, Bank of Lithuania, and FinCEN filings that redefine what “effective” AML looks like.

• How global regulators are converging toward one standard of accountability regardless of geography or firm size.

• Practical steps for compliance officers and auditors to fortify control systems before regulators intervene.

As Alfred Frodes reminds us in his closing words:

“Enforcement isn’t punishment, it’s feedback. Every Final Notice is a mirror showing us how resilient our systems truly are.”

🎙️ Series Context:
Produced by Produced by Synapes & Spectra Studios, The Regulatory Files transforms enforcement headlines into learning blueprints for compliance, risk, and audit professionals. This AML Series begins with “The Watershed Year,” followed by deep-dive episodes into each major 2025 case — Barclays, Monzo, Revolut, and TD Bank each unpacked with the precision of regulator analysis and the pragmatism of field-tested compliance design.

Production Disclosure:
Some production elements — including research synthesis, post-production, and audio cleaning — were supported by AI-assisted tools. All content has been independently verified and approved for factual accuracy and regulatory integrity.

Subscribe, rate, and share The Regulatory Files to stay ahead of the next enforcement wave and nominate the AML case you want us to review next in the comment below.

What happens when compliance begins to innovate faster than the risks it was built to contain? In this episode of The Regulatory Files, we dive into how regulation, technology, and human judgment are converging to redefine trust in the age of intelligent systems.

From synthetic data and federated learning to AI-driven financial crime detection, we unpack how regulators and financial institutions are moving from rules-based oversight to intelligence-led regulation.

🎧 Featuring:

Adetoyese Adedokun — interviewer and seasoned compliance leader at Complia, guiding the dialogue on integrity and innovation.
Professor Georgios Samakovitis — Professor of FinTech at the University of Greenwich, sharing insights from his research on AI, blockchain, and data-sharing for AML and counter-fraud.

Across 40 minutes, the conversation explores:

• How synthetic data and collective intelligence can reshape AML collaboration without breaching privacy.

• The FCA’s tech-positive stance and its implications for responsible innovation.

• The role of AI in enhancing, not replacing, human judgment in compliance.

• The growing risk of confabulation - fabricated intelligence that threatens credibility in legal, regulatory, and audit processes.

Through real-world cases — from Deloitte’s confabulated report in Australia to Coomer v. Lindell in the U.S. - the discussion reveals why validation, and governance must evolve alongside technology.

As Alfred Frodes reminds us in his closing words:“Before we trust the intelligence, we must first verify its integrity.”

🎙️ Series Context:

Produced by Synapes & Spectra Studios, The Regulatory Files brings together practitioners and thinkers shaping the next generation of compliance. This episode is part of our continuing exploration into how innovation, ethics, and governance intersect in a rapidly evolving regulatory world.

AI Disclosure: Some elements of production including transcription, editing, and post-production were assisted by AI tools. The editorial team reviewed all final content to ensure accuracy and integrity.

Subscribe, rate, and share this episode if it adds value to your compliance journey. Send us your questions and scenarios, Adetoyese will address selected listener insights in the next episode.

What happens when intelligence itself is deregulated? In this second episode of our three-part Deregulation series, we unpack how nations are rewriting or erasing the rulebook for artificial intelligence.

From Washington’s “innovation-first” approach to Brussels’ guardrails and Beijing’s enforcement muscle, we trace how the global AI race is reshaping governance, compliance, and trust itself.

🎧 Featuring:

• Adetoyese: anchor and strategic advisor on governance and compliance.

• Phoebe: policy analyst and regulatory strategist translating complex AI frameworks into practical insight.

• Alfred: senior compliance leader and regulatory thinker connecting risk, ethics, and business resilience.

Across 35 minutes, the trio navigate:

• The U.S.’s fragmented but fast-moving AI landscape, where regulation trails innovation.

• Europe’s AI Act and GDPR interplay — now fully enforceable, with real penalties in play.

• The U.K.’s sandbox model blending flexibility with accountability.

• Asia’s regulatory mosaic — from China’s hard controls to Singapore’s principles-driven trust frameworks.

• The Middle East’s and Africa’s emerging voices — how regions like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Nigeria, and Kenya are adapting global rules to local innovation.

Through real-world examples, you’ll see what this means for GRC professionals: building resilience across fractured jurisdictions, adapting governance to new AI realities, and leading trust in an age where algorithms, not policies, make the first move.

As Alfred reminds us in this episode’s closing words:

“Resilience isn’t about surviving regulation — it’s about translating it into opportunity.”

🎙️ Series Context:This is Episode 2 of 3 in our Deregulation Series, produced by Complia Studios, exploring how deregulation across finance, AI, and sustainability is reshaping compliance and governance worldwide.

AI Disclosure: Some elements of production such as transcription, editing, and content structuring have been assisted by AI tools. Every segment was reviewed and finalized by our team to ensure accuracy and integrity.

Subscribe, rate, and share if you find this useful and send us your table-top questions; Adetoyese will address listener scenarios in Episode 2.

What happens when the guardrails that keep markets steady start to shift?
In this premiere episode of our three-part series, we pull back the curtain on the real-world consequences of deregulation not as a policy debate, but as a practical test of institutional resilience. Hosted by Alfred (with framing from Phoebe), and building toward practical implementation with Adetoyese, we take you from the Fed’s discount window to the living wills designed to unwind a failing bank and show what these reforms mean for the people on the front lines: compliance, risk and governance professionals.

Expect crisp storytelling, insider perspective, and actionable takeaways:

• A clear explainer of emergency liquidity tools (why the discount window matters and why stigma still counts).
• The real challenges of repaying emergency funding and how that can amplify systemic risk.
• Why “living wills” matter — and what makes one practical (not just printable).
• Concrete, operational guidance for GRC teams: the dashboards, triggers, and table-top scenarios you should be running now.
• A forward-looking close: a teaser of how deregulation is moving beyond banking — into AI, data, and climate — and what that means for governance.

Who should listen: compliance officers, risk managers, board members, fintech leaders, policy advisers, and anyone who wants an inside view on how modern regulation actually plays out under stress.

Why this episode matters right now: global regulators and politics are reshaping capital and disclosure rules. Whether you work in a multinational bank, a regional fintech, or a regulator’s office, the decisions you make today — the playbooks you test and the alerts you tune — will determine whether your organisation weathers the next shock.

Listen, learn, and use this episode as a practical briefing: update your dashboards, run the three scenarios we outline, and join us next time when we explore how deregulation is changing intelligence itself AI, data governance and the race for global competitiveness.

AI Disclosure: Some elements of production such as transcription, editing, and content structuring have been assisted by AI tools. Every segment was reviewed and finalized by our team to ensure accuracy and integrity.

Subscribe, rate, and share if you find this useful and send us your table-top questions; Adetoyese will address listener scenarios in Episode 2.

Discover how Arian Financial LLP’s AML failings led to a £289K FCA penalty in this Regulatory Files episode.

Our experts dissect the case, revealing weak due diligence, poor transaction monitoring, and systemic control lapses that enabled fraudulent trading.

We explain why no personal liability was imposed and share actionable insights to fortify your AML framework. Tune in for a deep dive into transforming regulatory challenges into strategic advantages. A must-listen for compliance, legal, and GRC professionals.

For more resources and references of this episode visit www.compliaai.com/regulatoryfiles/arianfinancials.

AI Disclosure: Some elements of production such as transcription, editing, and content structuring have been assisted by AI tools. Every segment was reviewed and finalized by our team to ensure accuracy and integrity.

Subscribe, rate, and share if you found this useful and send us your table-top questions info@compliaai.com

Sources

Financial Conduct Authority, 2025.Final Notice: Arian Financial LLP.https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/final-notices/arian-financial-llp-2025.pdf

Financial Conduct Authority, n.d.Finalised Guidance FG18/05.https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/finalised-guidance/fg18-05.pdf

Financial Conduct Authority, n.d.FCA Handbook – Financial Crime: A Guide for Firms (FCTR).https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/FCTR.pdf

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