The world of financial regulation is on the cusp of a major transformation, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) taking a leading role in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance. This shift has been gradually building over decades, starting back in 1993 when the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) first used its Artificial Intelligence System (FAIS) to spot potential money laundering. Now, three decades later, AI is set to revolutionize how we monitor BSA activities.
AI’s Impact on Financial Crime Prevention
AI is no longer a device of the future; it is here and already making a big difference. The Department of the Treasury's 2024 strategy1 highlights AI's essential role in fighting financial crime. Recently, the Treasury's Office of Payments Integrity announced that it had recovered over $375 million in fraudulent funds thanks to AI-enhanced processes.2 This demonstrates AI's ability to analyze huge amounts of data, identify risks, and support decision-makers. As fraudsters increasingly use AI, it is crucial for financial institutions to adopt similar strategies to keep pace, if not find ways to get ahead.
On January 21, 2025, the White House announced the creation of “Stargate,” a partnership, comprised of OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, MGX, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Arm, that plans to invest $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the U.S.3 The "Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence" Executive Order,4 issued on January 23, 2025, by President Trump, replaces previous Executive Order 14110 from October 30, 2023. The new directive marks a notable transition from the Biden administration's focus on oversight, risk management, and equity, toward a strategy that emphasizes deregulation and fostering AI innovation to uphold U.S. leadership on the global stage.
AI in AML: Beyond the Basics
AI’s role in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) extends beyond its well-known applications, such as handling sanctions alerts and negative news monitoring. Advances in AI agents and refined prompting techniques are revolutionizing how we interact with these systems, enabling more complex tasks to be executed with greater speed, precision, and flexibility. However, human oversight remains essential. While AI can document processes and decisions, it currently lacks the nuanced judgment required for compliance in financial institutions. Transparency and oversight are key to addressing AI’s limitations– while automation can streamline and document complex processes, human expertise is vital for guiding and validating AI’s outputs. This ensures accuracy and builds trust among regulators, banks, companies, and consumers alike.
Moreover, as AI continues to shape the regulatory space, user-friendly interfaces are essential for making AI more approachable and easier to integrate into existing workflows. A well-designed interface allows users to interact with AI intuitively, reducing resistance to adoption and ensuring seamless implementation. By prioritizing usability, financial institutions can make AI tools accessible to all users, regardless of technical expertise, ultimately driving greater efficiency and adoption.
The Future is Now - Introducing AI AML Analyst
We are at a pivotal moment—30 years after the introduction of FAIS, AI is set to redefine BSA monitoring. With AI leading the way, the future of compliance has never been more promising, and as regulatory expectations evolve, adopting AI today will ensure your institution remains competitive, agile, and ready for the next era of financial crime prevention.
Ankura’s AI AML Analyst is at the forefront of this transformation, empowering financial institutions to embrace the future. Ankura's AI AML Analyst is designed to revolutionize compliance operations by managing sanctions and transaction monitoring alerts, and strengthening Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB), and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) processes. Built to streamline compliance and drive efficiency, it empowers institutions to stay ahead of regulatory demands by leveraging AI to enhance BSA compliance—while preserving the critical human oversight needed for documented decision-making.
Designed and developed to seamlessly integrate with existing workflows and to work in concert with existing monitoring and screening systems, Ankura’s AI AML Analyst is more than just automation. AI AML Analyst transforms AML processes by combining the power of AI with essential human oversight. It can be tailored to an organization’s unique needs, ensuring compliance operations are not only more efficient but also aligned with specific goals and regulatory expectations. By streamlining compliance operations and reducing manual workloads it allows teams to focus on high-value oversight and critical decision-making.
Now is the Time to Act
For financial institutions, the imperative to adopt AI is undeniable. By transitioning from legacy systems to innovative AI-driven solutions, financial institutions can fundamentally transform BSA compliance. Easily integrated and tailored to your organization’s unique needs, Ankura’s AI AML Analyst provides the technology and tools needed to significantly enhance compliance and boost operational efficiency.
To explore how Ankura’s experts, tools and solutions can help you transform your AML compliance, please contact petra.hrachova@ankura.com or jonathan.abratt@ankura.com in the Americas region, and andrew.pimlott@ankura.com orlee.hale@ankura.com in the UK/EMEA region.
[1] https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/2024-Illicit-Finance-Strategy.pdf
[2] https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2134#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20the%20U.S.%20Department,beginning%20of%20Fiscal%20Year%202023.
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/21/tech/openai-oracle-softbank-trump-ai-investment/index.html
[4] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/
© Copyright 2025. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Ankura Consulting Group, LLC., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals. Ankura is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice.
