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Insights and trends shaping the future of compiliance

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spektr – Blog

What's been occupying our compliance attention lately? Here's a rundown of notable updates and regulatory happenings from the past weeks.

FATF Ministers commit to stepping up efforts to fight money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing

 Ministers met in Washington, D.C. on 18th April, reaffirming their unwavering commitment to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. During this biennial meeting, they recognized achievements in enhancing the FATF Standards, including measures related to asset recovery and beneficial ownership transparency. The focus remains on protecting the financial system from illicit finance and countering terrorist financing.

Germany’s Commerzbank fined €1.45M for AML failings at subsidiary

Germany’s financial watchdog, BaFin, has 

, Comdirect Bank, €1.45 million for failing to meet anti-money laundering obligations. The fine addresses lapses in updating customer data and inadequate security measures. Despite these shortcomings, Commerzbank asserts that it completed the necessary compliance updates in 2022. The fine, emphasizing the critical nature of AML compliance, has been in effect since March 28, 2024.

UK Finance Unveils Model Clauses for VRPs

 have introduced model clauses for variable recurring payments (VRPs), allowing customers to authorize payment service providers (PSPs) to initiate variable payments from their bank accounts. These clauses aim to streamline agreements between account providers and PSPs, fostering competition and reducing negotiation costs.

Basel Committee’s Stance on AI in Banking

, highlighted the dual nature of AI and ML in banking—its capacity to boost efficiency and risk management, alongside the risks it poses to financial stability and societal norms. He called for a balanced approach to AI integration, ensuring it aids anti-money laundering efforts without overshadowing the necessity for human oversight in decision-making.

FinCEN Notice: Counterfeit U.S. Passport Cards and Financial Fraud

 (FinCEN), in collaboration with the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, has issued a notice to financial institutions regarding fraud schemes involving counterfeit U.S. passport cards. The notice outlines typologies associated with passport card fraud, highlights red flags for identifying suspicious activity, and emphasizes reporting obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. Financial institutions play a crucial role in detecting and preventing identity theft and fraud, and this notice aims to enhance vigilance in safeguarding against such criminal activities.

At spektr, we understand that keeping up with regulatory changes and maintaining compliance can feel overwhelming. 

 about your compliance needs and how we can customize solutions to match your unique business requirements! 

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This Week in Compliance Vol. 3

JP Morgan Chase Fined $348M for Surveillance Issues

 by the OCC and the US Federal Reserve for trade surveillance deficiencies. These fines arise from two investigations highlighting monitoring trading activities and market conduct.

The fines highlight regulators' increasing emphasis on market integrity in finance, stressing the importance of trade surveillance in banks and setting a standard for thorough monitoring to prevent misconduct and maintain banking standards.

FCA Identifies Weaknesses in Financial Crime Controls

 has highlighted critical shortcomings in the financial crime controls of banking institutions. Key areas needing improvement include risk assessments, customer due diligence, and transaction monitoring. These gaps pose significant risks, leading to potential regulatory and reputational damage for firms within the banking sector.

The FCA recommends adopting more comprehensive risk assessments and improving customer due diligence and transaction monitoring systems to reinforce financial institutes defenses against financial crimes and uphold the integrity of their financial system.

EU introduces Instant Payments Regulation

 in euros across the EU and EEA, streamlining financial transactions for consumers and businesses. This regulation mandates that payment service providers offer instant euro transfers with charges, if any, comparable to standard credit transfers. The move aims to reduce reliance on third-country financial institutions and promotes the strategic autonomy of the European financial sector.

The new regulation enables cross-border euro transactions, boosting cash flow mobility, yet it introduces AML/CFT challenges. These include the high velocity of transactions potentially undermining conventional money laundering checks and elevating the risk of rapid cross-border movement of illicit funds.

UK FCA Greenlights cETNs for Professional Investors

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has 

 to establish a UK-listed market segment for crypto asset-backed Exchange Traded Notes (cETNs), targeting professional investors only. Despite increased data and insights into these products, the FCA maintains a ban on selling cETNs and crypto derivatives to retail consumers.

This decision marks a cautious advancement in the UK's approach to crypto asset regulation, balancing innovation with investor safety. The move also reflects the FCA's ongoing efforts to position the UK as a leader in fintech regulation, highlighting the need for careful oversight in the rapidly evolving digital assets market.

US Agencies Clarify Compliance Under Sanctions Law

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have collaboratively issued 

 of non-US companies with US sanctions and export control laws. 

This marks a critical step in clarifying the reach of US sanctions and export control laws beyond American borders. It impacts global businesses, particularly those involved in international trade, emphasizing the need for a thorough understanding and management of the associated legal risk. This guidance emphasizes the need for non-US entities to develop compliance programs to effectively manage complex US legal requirements

Nigeria Demands Binance Data Amid Regulatory Tensions

and are demanding detailed data on the top 100 local customers, including six-month transaction histories. This move is part of Nigeria's push to regulate cryptocurrency activities and stabilize their currency, the naira. 

In response, Binance removed the naira from its trading platform, escalating the situation. Many Nigerian crypto traders are now using platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp for peer-to-peer transactions, bypassing traditional exchanges. This situation highlights the global challenge of regulating digital currencies and the evolving response of crypto exchanges.

At spektr, we understand that keeping up with regulatory changes and maintaining compliance can feel overwhelming. Let's have a chat about your compliance needs and how we can customize solutions to match your unique business requirements! 

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This Week in Compliance Vol. 2

What's on the compliance radar this week? Here's a summary of notable insights and news unfolding in the regulatory arena.

Reno Mathews, former executive at Citi, Google and Meta, joins spektr

 our first Chief Compliance Officer. With over 20 years of experience at major organizations like Citi, Google, Robinhood, and Meta, Reno brings unparalleled expertise to our team. 

His track record includes leading compliance controls globally and collaborating with regulatory bodies across multiple jurisdictions. Reno's focus on leveraging technology and automation aligns perfectly with our mission to simplify ongoing due diligence processes for our clients.

The FATF Plenary in February 2024 focused on several key initiatives: 

Frankfurt has been chosen as the host city for the European Union's Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), a cornerstone in reforming the European Union’s anti-money laundering framework. 

AMLA is endowed with both direct and indirect supervisory powers over obliged entities, highlighting its active role in regulatory oversight within the financial sector.

This new central body is empowered to enforce sanctions and take action, facilitating the harmonization of AML regulations among EU member states and ensuring more effective and consistent application of anti-money laundering regulations across the EU.

FCA requests information from firms about delivery of their ongoing advice services and the Consumer Duty 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is requesting information from financial advisory firms about the delivery of their ongoing advice services in relation to the Consumer Duty. This initiative is part of the FCA’s commitment to embed the Consumer Duty's principles. 

The FCA's focus is to ensure that firms not only act with integrity but also proactively avoid causing foreseeable harm to their clients while enhancing their financial wellbeing and supporting their financial objectives.

US Treasury wants to extend AML rules to investment advisers

The U.S. Treasury, through FinCEN, is set to broaden the AML regulatory framework to incorporate certain investment advisers. These advisers will be obligated to report any suspicious financial activities and provide additional client details, thus tightening the defenses against illicit use of financial services for money laundering and tax evasion.

FinCEN's move to extend AML rules underscores a proactive approach to seal regulatory loopholes. By enforcing these new requirements, the integrity of the U.S. financial system is further safeguarded, preventing the misuse of investment advisory services for illegal purposes.

FinCEN Proposes Rule to Combat Money Laundering and Promote Transparency in Residential Real Estate

FinCEN has proposed new regulations requiring certain real estate professionals to report information on non-financed residential real estate transactions to legal entities or trusts. This move is designed to increase transparency and combat money laundering by revealing the individuals behind anonymous shell companies in real estate deals. These proposed rules will not establish new anti-money laundering program requirements but will enforce reporting obligations.

The context of this initiative reflects FinCEN's ongoing efforts to integrate real estate transactions into the U.S. AML/CFT regulatory framework, aligning with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The regulations are part of FinCEN's expanding role to include other business sectors under AML/CFT controls.

At spektr, we're here to lend a helping hand, whether you're navigating regulatory changes or ensuring compliance for your business. 

, and let's discuss how we can tailor solutions to meet your unique compliance needs!

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This Week in Compliance Vol. 1

We are thrilled to welcome Reno Mathews as our first Chief Compliance Officer here at 

, the ongoing due diligence platform for automated compliance.

With over two decades of extensive compliance experience gained from renowned organizations such as Citi, Google, Robinhood, and Meta, Reno Mathews brings a wealth of expertise to our team. Throughout his career, Reno has showcased his proficiency in navigating complex regulatory frameworks within the financial sector.

In his previous roles, Reno led the development and implementation of compliance controls at a global scale. His tenure as the Chief Compliance Officer of Payments at Google entailed close collaboration with regulatory bodies for his oversight of licenses and exemptions across a broad spectrum of jurisdictions including the US states, UK, Ireland, Lithuania, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, India, and Brazil.

During his time at Trulioo, Mathews had the opportunity to collaborate with our co-founder, Mikkel Skarnager,  who had previously founded a client onboarding platform eventually acquired by Trulioo. Their shared vision and passion for innovation led Reno to join spektr, where he continues his partnership with Mikkel in addressing industry challenges.

"In many organizations, compliance teams are often neglected in the race for technological advancement. I'm excited to join a team of remarkable individuals dedicated to relieving this burden from compliance teams and crafting a tailored solution using the best technology and automation that meets their needs." says Reno Mathews, Chief Compliance Officer of spektr. 

As we welcome Reno to our team, it signifies a pivotal moment in our dedication to transparency and excellence in ongoing due diligence practices for financial enterprises worldwide. With over 20 years of industry experience, Reno's profound understanding of regulatory frameworks across diverse sectors such as banking, payments, cryptocurrencies, and trading, provides a robust foundation for spektr. With Reno's guidance, spektr will undergo significant advancements in automation to simplify our client's ongoing due diligence processes, leading to improved compliance and client satisfaction.

For more information about spektr and its new approach to ongoing due diligence, we invite you to 

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Centralize and monitor your entire ongoing due diligence cycle. Want to learn more?

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We are thrilled to welcome Reno Mathews as our first Chief Compliance Officer here at spektr, the ongoing due diligence platform for automated compliance.

Reno Mathews joins spektr

Reno Mathews, Compliance Executive from Citi, Google, Meta, Joins Spektr

 is officially exiting stealth mode and ready to turn ongoing due diligence into a revenue-generating asset for compliance. Our journey is supported by a €5 million seed round led by Northzone, Seedcamp, and PreSeed Ventures, enabling us to introduce advanced automation to 

spektr was founded by a team who previously developed an entire no-code platform, HelloFlow, for securely onboarding customers globally. Following our 

, the leader in global identity verification, we took a step back to understand the true needs of the industry. 

After talking with over 400 compliance and risk experts and drawing from our experience in client onboarding, it's clear that companies struggle with ongoing monitoring and risk management after initial setup of digital onboarding processes, largely due to a lack of automation. Many services still depend heavily on manual monitoring and alert resolution, which can be resource-intensive.

Thanks to the early trust and support of our investors, our vision to address ongoing due diligence challenges and drive revenue through automation-led compliance measures has become a reality. 

"We are incredibly excited to partner with spektr. They are an exceptional team with a very clear product vision, and we believe they will be able to leverage their experience from HelloFlow to build spektr into a category-defining company within the compliance space," says the principal at Northzone, Maxine Rior.

Joining Northzone are PreSeed Ventures and Seedcamp, both backers of our initial venture at HelloFlow. Alexander Viterbo-Horten, General Partner in PSV Tech01, one of the funds in venture house PreSeed Ventures, says: “Their execution power and strategic understanding of the financial compliance market are profoundly impressive.” He adds:

"This makes spektr one of the best bets on a future unicorn out of Denmark. It’s a true testament to that, that we’re several investors from the first journey who decided to invest again."

Tom Wilson, partner at Seedcamp shared the same beliefs in the team and product: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to back Mikkel and Ciprian as they go again with spektr. The HelloFlow journey gave us a taste of the market-leading products they can build, and we're excited to see where they can take spektr, building on that experience".

In response to the rapid growth and escalating costs in the compliance sector, 

 that automates risk processes, sets up monitoring, resolves alerts instantly, and integrates easily with vendors.

By automating 90% of risk and monitoring tasks we boost operational efficiency and drive higher conversion rates for your business. But there's more to spektr than automation. Gain access to advanced analytics and reporting features, enabling you to make informed decisions and optimize your compliance strategies for commercial success. 

While automation is at the core of our platform, we also value the human touch. 

 and share your insights with us. Thank you for your support on this journey!

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We are excited to announce that spektr is officially exiting stealth mode and ready to turn ongoing due diligence into a revenue-generating asset for compliance. 

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