Ep 78 - How Well Does AML Work? | Spotlight on Rethinking AI Regulation

Episode 78 with Oonagh van den Berg, Prof. Peter Reuter, and Dr. Mirko Nazzari 🎧 

In this episode, returning guest and compliance expert Oonagh van den Berg discusses why current AI regulation approaches fall short, based on her LinkedIn article, “Rethinking AI Regulation: Why Current Approaches Are Falling Short.” She highlights the limitations of fragmented national laws, the need for a global AI rulebook, and the role of public education in shifting from blind trust to informed verification. Geopolitical pressures and coordination challenges further complicate regulation.

The conversation then turns to anti-money laundering (AML) with Professor Peter Reuter and Dr. Mirko Nazzari, authors of “How Well Does the Money Laundering Control System Work?” They explore the systemic limits of AML, including over-complex compliance, inefficiencies, and impacts on financial inclusion. The “firehose” of suspicious activity reports illustrates both the potential and challenges of intelligence gathering, often hindered by under-resourced agencies.

Reuter and Nazzari emphasize that AML is not just about preventing laundering but targeting predicate crimes. They examine tensions between enforcement, privacy, and effectiveness, and the growing costs and obligations in sectors like cryptocurrency. They also highlight uneven global implementation and the difficulty of reform, despite widespread recognition of system shortcomings.

The episode closes with reflections on improving AML through better data, academic research, and collaboration between regulators and the private sector, offering pathways for realistic, evidence-based reform.

Podcast Discussion Covers:

• Oonagh van den Berg: Why Current AI Regulation Approaches Fall Short
• Case for a Global AI Rulebook & Public Education
• Reuter & Nazzari: How Well Does the AML System Work?
• Simple Schemes, Complex Challenges - The Limits of AML
• Compliance Trap & Who Benefits from Broken AML Processes
• Scaling Back Enforcement: US Policy Shifts & AML Compliance Limits
• From Firehose to Insights: Value of AML Reports
• AML Overreach, Financial Inclusion, and Effectiveness
• Beyond the Label: AML as a Tool Against Predicate Crime
• Tension Between AML Enforcement, Privacy, and Practical Effectiveness
• Reflections on the Global AML System and Path Forward

About Our Guests:

Oonagh van den Berg – Founder of Raw Compliance, lawyer, and educator with experience across Asia, now based in Braga, Portugal.

Dr. Mirko Nazzari – Postdoctoral research fellow in Political Science at Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy, specializing in AML, cybercrime, and public policy.

Professor Peter Reuter – Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, Stockholm Prize in Criminology recipient, and leading authority on financial crime and policy evaluation.

The Regulatory Ramblings podcast is brought to you by The University of Hong Kong's Reg/Tech Lab (Building Better Financial Systems), HKU-SCF FinTech Academy, Asia Global Institute, and HKU-edX Professional Certificate in FinTech, with support from HKU Faculty of Law. The program is led by Douglas Arner and hosted by Ajay Shamdasani.

For more details about the authors and links, please visit: hkufintech.com/rr

HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.