In Regulatory Wrap for the week to April 24, Jay Hampshire breaks down how FinCEN is encouraging firms to utilize AI-enabled tools to more effectively fight against financial crime.
In this week’s Regulatory Wrap, we examine how regulators such as the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are acknowledging AI’s potential to enhance anti-money laundering compliance.
1. FinCEN has proposed reforms to existing anti-money laundering (AML) legislation to “encourage technological innovation”
2. FinCEN highlighted that the adoption of new technology can more “effectively counter money laundering” and “reduce compliance burden”
3. Regulators have heightened their focus on financial crime in 2026 – both the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued eye-watering fines for AML failings over the past six months
4. The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have also made AML a core priority in their 2026 examination priorities
5. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) recently acknowledged how AI’s “speed and precision” in identifying signs of money laundering and encouraged banks to “innovate in this space”
This week’s Regulatory Wrap is brought to you by Global Relay’s Senior Content Writer, Jay Hampshire.
As regulators give firms the green light to experiment with evolving technologies in risk monitoring strategies, compliance teams should ensure they’re implementing AI-enabled tools that allow them to innovate responsibly.
