The rise of financial crime, particularly involving digital assets, presents a significant and often disproportionate challenge to mid-sized and regional financial institutions. Lacking the extensive resources of larger counterparts, these banks face similar regulatory burdens, highlighting a critical need for accessible, advanced anti-money laundering (AML) solutions.
To address this disparity, Quantexa has launched Cloud AML for US small and mid-sized banks. Built on Microsoft Azure, this solution enables institutions to detect financial crimes, especially those linked to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. The urgency is evident: 36% of AML professionals view digital assets as the most significant challenge to AML efforts over the next five years.
This product launch is timely, coinciding with anticipated US stablecoin legislation that could increase digital asset adoption and attract more financial players. Such regulatory shifts inherently increase the complexity of transaction monitoring. Chris Begnall, Quantexa’s Head of Financial Crime Prevention for North America, observed that many banks are merely seeking monitoring solutions, with few embracing crypto as a business opportunity.
Cloud AML integrates advanced capabilities, including an AI assistant, automated data enrichment, and comprehensive 360-degree client profiles for enhanced transaction monitoring. Quantexa reports the solution can reduce “false positives” by up to 75% and accelerate financial crime investigations by 80%, driving substantial operational efficiencies.
The strategic collaboration with Microsoft is crucial for democratizing access to advanced AML technology. Bill Borden, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Financial Services, emphasized, “Mid-sized and local banks play a critical role… they deserve access to the same powerful and scalable technologies as the largest institutions.” This partnership aims to modernize compliance and level the playing field, providing regional banks with cutting-edge tools previously exclusive to top-tier institutions.
Kate specializes in clear, engaging coverage of business developments and financial markets. With a knack for breaking down economic data, she makes complex topics easy to understand.