On December 5, 2011, the founders of the International Association for Asset Recovery (IAAR) and  the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) will launch a new association devoted to the professionals working in the field of financial crimes. As a prelude, we are adding two bonus panels to the IAAR 3rd Annual Las Vegas conference to dissect the present approach to financial crime and begin finding solutions and better approaches.

Financial Crime Fighters, ‘Tear Down These Silos!’ – Beating Financial Crime Through ‘FRAML’ Best Practices and Convergence

In the United States and most countries, financial institutions, government agencies, and businesses attack financial crime through silos. They have:

• One unit, or units, to deal with fraud,
• One unit to deal with anti-corruption under FCPA, UK Bribery Act, etc.,
• One unit to deal with anti-money laundering,
• One unit to deal with OFAC, UN, EU and other sanctions,
• One unit to deal with Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),
• One unit to deal with customer due diligence, compliance and reporting,

The cost of this splintered fraud and anti-money laundering (FRAML) approach is enormous. The cost in reduced effectiveness and productivity through this approach is greater. The only winner is the financial criminal.

It is time for "convergence." How would "convergence" work in fighting financial crime? Where is it likely to bring good results? What are its key elements? How do you avoid losing focused expertise? What are the common operational factors? How can financial institutions and government agencies achieve its efficiencies and effectiveness? All financial crime leaves someone poorer than they were before, the criminal proceeds must be laundered, and assets must be recovered. What must be done to tear down the silos to improve success against financial crime? In this panel, veterans with a lifetime of fighting financial crime from many fronts with many weapons show you what must be done to achieve successful "convergence."

Speakers: Jeffrey Neiman, Don Semesky, Ed Rodriguez

Moderator: Charles Intriago

Combating and defeating financial criminals by effective use of digital evidence-gathering and technology

Virtually every financial crime these days is committed, facilitated or covered up by and through technology. Identity theft, advance fee schemes, phishing, investment scams and many others sap wealth from unsuspecting victims digitally thanks to the Internet. Just identity theft occurs 28 times each hour in the United States and hundreds of times in other countries. Billions of dollars are siphoned from consumers by phishing, spamming and other fraud. The good news is that online criminal activity leaves digital evidence and tracks to the perpetrator and his allies. To combat these criminals effectively you must know how to capture and use technology and digital information. In this panel, top experts will teach you state-of-the-art techniques and prepare you to beat fraudsters’ at their own game by knowing the technological tools that you must have in your tool kit to win.

Speakers: EJ Hilbert, Karen Schuler

Moderator: David Quinones