I recently had the opportunity to attend and speak at the 2024 Transform Finance conference in New York City. This dynamic event brought together industry leaders and subject matter experts to discuss the pressing challenges and innovations shaping financial crimes compliance today. It was inspiring to connect with so many professionals who are deeply committed to advancing the field. The event focused on these key themes:
Complexity, data, and effectiveness
Our presentation focused on three foundational themes—complexity, data, and effectiveness (CDE)—and their role in financial crimes compliance in the 21st century. These “CDEs” encapsulate the evolving challenges and opportunities facing compliance practitioners today. Feedback from attendees underscored how these principles resonate across their organizations, validating the strategies many compliance, risk, and business teams are already working to implement.
Complexity: Financial crimes compliance is increasingly multifaceted, with risks that span multiple jurisdictions, regulatory requirements, and rapidly changing financial landscapes. Practitioners must not only understand these complexities but also anticipate and adapt to them.
Data: The linchpin of effective financial crimes compliance is data quality and availability. Data is the lifeblood of effective decision-making, yet many organizations still struggle with fragmented, incomplete, or inconsistent datasets. Without high-quality data, compliance programs cannot operate efficiently or accurately.
Effectiveness: At the end of the day, compliance programs are judged on their results. Effectiveness requires not only robust processes and technology but also a strategic focus on measurable outcomes. It’s not enough to check boxes—compliance efforts must actively mitigate risks and prevent financial crimes.
The importance of a data governance framework
As part of the discussion, I left attendees with a critical message: improve your data governance framework.
In today’s compliance landscape, having a robust data governance framework is not optional. It is the foundation upon which complexity is managed, and effectiveness is achieved. Such a framework ensures that data is not only available but also accurate, consistent, and actionable across the organization.
If your organization lacks a formal data governance framework, or if you as a financial crimes practitioner are not involved in its development and execution, success will be a significant challenge. Data governance must be embedded in the DNA of your compliance efforts to manage risks effectively and stay ahead of the evolving financial crimes landscape.
A call to action
The future of financial crimes compliance is both exciting and daunting. Practitioners have the opportunity to leverage advanced technology, data-driven insights, and collaborative frameworks to tackle some of the world’s most complex challenges. But this requires a deliberate focus on the CDEs—complexity, data, and effectiveness—and a commitment to building strong data governance foundations.
As we move forward, let’s continue to prioritize collaboration, innovation, and strategic thinking. Together, we can ensure that financial crimes compliance keeps pace with 21st-century challenges and becomes a critical enabler of trust and security in the global financial system.