While it’s estimated that around half of the global population can speak multiple languages (with 103 million monthly users learning under the tyranny of the Duolingo owl), professional-level translation within highly regulated industries remains a valuable commodity. Firms are increasingly leveraging AI-enabled translation and transcription solutions to not only plug this resource gap, but also make use of a wide range of benefits that these technological advancements have introduced.
Below, we explore how financial services firms are utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI-enabled translation and transcription solutions to break down language barriers and streamline compliance and surveillance processes, as well as avoid traditional manual translation challenges like scalability, lengthy turnaround times, and high costs.
1) AI-enabled translation can cut costs
Compliance and surveillance teams are always expected to “do less with more,” operating with heavily scrutinized budgets. The slower pace of regulatory enforcement actions may also lead many to assume that investment in compliance is now less of a priority.
LLM-based transcription and translation solutions can reduce firms’ reliance on teams of high-cost linguists and translators for routine, high-volume, and priority tasks. The automated nature of these solutions naturally reduces the overhead required for large-scale document review and streamlines processes, freeing up staff who previously had to manage translation workflows and outsourcing to focus on more high-value tasks.
2) AI translation increases speed and efficiency
The “data deluge” of modern business is only ever increasing, with compliance and surveillance professionals expected to sift through high volumes of data from multiple sources. Translation naturally leads to duplication and adds even more onto the review plate.
By integrating AI translation and transcription outputs into automated review processes, compliance teams can speed up eDiscovery, enable faster identification of relevant data and documentation that may be required to fulfil regulatory requests for information. Automated flagging of any potential signs of misconduct, while reducing the number of false positives, also streamlines review, cutting out lengthy manual processes and allowing users to focus on escalating real risks.
3) Using AI translation to increase scalability
Previously, scaling operations into new territories has been at the mercy of budgets. Now, with the introduction of hybrid working styles and AI-enabled solutions, firms are able to access the flexibility to quickly establish a compliant foothold, anywhere. LLM-backed transcription and translation solutions allow users to review more data and communications at near-infinite scale, without needing to build a physical compliance presence in a given location.
Accurate transcription and translation support effective multinational operations, whether existing or expanding, and consistent, performant compliance workflows across jurisdictions, giving teams access to the same level of resource and accuracy wherever they are working from.
4) “Speak the language” and bust the jargon
From “bulls” to “bears” and “tombstones” to “spoofing,” the financial services space is full of jargon and industry terminology. But different geographical markets will have their own unique slang and terms that compliance and surveillance teams need to keep watch for.
LLM-based solutions allow firms to tailor models to flag the localized keywords and jargon they need to watch for, and highly accurate automated transcription and translation help to reduce potential human errors in interpretation or understanding. Translators that are fully across the ever-evolving jargon of the finance space are rare, and they may miss potential warnings signs of risk or misconduct that could cause problems.
5) Enhance regulatory alignment with increased data completeness
Operating on a multinational level presents firms with considerable opportunities, but also means they have to be aware of the requirements of regulators in all the territories in which they do business. Having access to accurate, automated transcriptions and translation supports multilingual compliance efforts across territories, allowing compliance professionals to review communications and data against relevant regulations regardless of language.
Regulators worldwide are increasingly requiring firms to capture and retain all relevant business and communications data, and that they maintain complete records of said data that can be presented quickly when required. By producing accurate transcriptions and translations of communications, firms ensure they have complete records and audit trails of all potentially relevant messages and documentation across their organization. Complete datasets are not only vital for meeting regulatory requirements, but can also be fed into surveillance and risk models to make them more accurate and performant.
6) Ensuring high levels of security and data integrity
As instances of cybersecurity incidents and breaches continue to rise, firms are under constant pressure to ensure all their data is as secure as possible throughout its life cycle. By selecting the right partner, firms can gain peace of mind that their transcription and translation data is encrypted to a high level and kept secure.
Having a suite of access controls ensures that data cannot be tampered with or deleted by internal bad actors, or have its meaning or content changed to try and hide misconduct or foul play. Employing a transcription and translation solution that is hosted on a private cloud can also present advantages, as data is kept insulated from public cloud breaches or increasingly common service outages, while minimizing the number of “links in the chain” between data capture, translation, and archiving also minimizes the chances of data loss, corruption, or leaks.
Judge how highly accurate AI transcription and translation can benefit your business and transform your communications for yourself – try the Global Relay AI demo.
