On Wednesday, July 31st, the ACAMS New York Chapter hosted an panel discussion titled Keeping Pace with Global Regulatory Change held at Fordham University and sponsored by Pegasystems.
The panelists (pictured below from left to right) brought diverse perspectives from the legal, financial and FinTech industries related to how financial institutions can remain in compliance despite challenges introduced by regulatory changes throughout the world.
Panelists:
Indira Mahadeo, Executive Director, Investment Management Operations, Morgan Stanley
Keith Harding, CAMS, Practice Lead, Anti-Financial Crimes Advisory Services, Dixon Hughes Goodman (Moderator)
Brad Cohen, Associate, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Mayer Brown
Ajit Tharaken, Senior Director, Client Lifecycle Management and KYC, Pegasystems
Kate Salottolo, Global Head of AML, Brand Risk Management and Global Financial Crimes Compliance, PayPal
The discussion opened with an overview presentation by Ajit Tharaken on the current challenges challenges and latest trends, which include adherence to regional regulatory variances, disjointed informational systems, and a global digital transformation that is driving the need for a customer-centric (versus product-centric) view. The panelists then each spoke about how regional variances can best be tracked and managed (e.g., centrally by a global team and through close partnership with local regulators.)
Much of the conversation centered around the importance of choosing the right tools to manage regulatory change. The panelists stressed the importance for companies to choose technology that will allow for changes to be made quickly as technology release lags can sometimes make regulatory compliance more difficult. It was also noted that it is critical to have a strong process of maintaining version control, which can provide an audit trail of when changes were made in adherence with new or changing regulatory requirements.
The event concluded with a discussion of what the panelists view to be the biggest regulatory risk that is on the horizon. Two of the panelists agreed that they were most cautious of the rise in popularity of virtual currencies. Other topics of growing interest included the need for a sound audit trail for AI processes and the need for a heightened focus on data security.
Please follow this link to download a copy of the presentation.