Convergence, Crisis, and Control: The New Financial Crime Equation

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Financial crime rarely announces when it changes shape. Yet across Asia-Pacific, it has done precisely that.

Risks once managed separately — fraud, scams, cyber intrusion, money laundering, through to sanctions evasion, and trade-based abuse — now operate as a single, integrated system. Scams have become the primary point of entry. Mule networks function as enabling infrastructure. Instant payments, virtual assets, and cross-border trade provide multiple, interchangeable pathways for illicit activity to move at speed.

The result is not simply more crime, but less time. Activity that once unfolded in stages now occurs in parallel, often faster than traditional control frameworks can respond. Fragmented data, siloed ownership, and sequential escalation — long treated as manageable inefficiencies — are increasingly exposed as material vulnerabilities.

Drawing on the longitudinal findings of the 2026 AML Tech Barometer, a joint research initiative by Regulation Asia and NICE Actimize, this webinar examines how financial crime has converged, why many established operating models are under strain, and what now distinguishes institutions that are adapting effectively from those falling behind. It also considers how regulatory expectations are evolving, with growing emphasis on demonstrable, real‑world effectiveness rather than compliance in form alone.

Key themes include:

• The convergence of financial crime risks — and why treating fraud, AML, cyber, sanctions, and trade as separate domains no longer reflects reality

• Scams and mule networks as systemic entry points and infrastructure, not isolated incidents

• The compression of time and its impact on detection, investigation, and escalation

• Data, integration, and AI as differentiators of effectiveness — and the risks of partial convergence

• Sanctions, trade, and geopolitics are moving from the periphery to the core of financial crime risk

• Evolving supervisory expectations, with effectiveness, accountability, and decision-making speed under increasing scrutiny

As financial crime accelerates and converges, the margin for delay is narrowing. This discussion is designed for senior leaders responsible for financial crime strategy, risk management, compliance, and supervision — across banks, payment providers, regulators, and policymakers — operating in a threat environment that no longer respects organisational boundaries. It invites a necessary assessment: are existing control frameworks — at an institutional level — keeping pace with the way risk now operates?