Issue 25
February 2025
Welcome to the MBA's News Digest!
Dear readers,
FATF grey list: truth and myths – Insights by the Basel Institute of Governance.
AI might generate a 14 per cent increase to global GDP by 2030, anticipates the World Economic Forum.
The convergence of fraud, credit, and compliance emerges as a growing trend amongst financial services in 2025. Concretely, what problems does it solve?
Best wishes,
The MBA team
FATF grey list: truth and myths
10 February 2025
‘In fact, grey listing is based mainly on a country’s poor performance in its mutual evaluation report, specifically in one of four criteria:
- Fifteen or more non-compliant or partially compliant ratings for technical compliance in any Recommendation.
- A non-compliant or partially compliant rating for three or more of the following Recommendations: R.3 (money laundering offences), R.5 (terrorist financing offences), R.6 (targeted financial sanctions related to terrorist financing), R.10 (customer due diligence), R.11 (record keeping) and R.20 (reporting of suspicious transactions).
- A low or moderate level of effectiveness for nine or more of the 11 Immediate Outcomes, with a minimum of 2 low ratings.
A low level of effectiveness for six or more of the 11 Immediate Outcomes.’
The convergence of fraud, credit, and compliance: A growing trend amongst financial services in 2025
10 February 2025
‘To meet this challenge, a growing and significant change in the structure of financial services companies has begun to emerge. The convergence of credit, fraud and compliance operations is becoming increasingly common in a centralised function. There is a critical need for integrated risk-management solutions and convergence should be a consideration for all businesses in 2025. What are the benefits of convergence and what problems does it solve?’
Take Five to protect yourself from online fraud
10 February 2025
‘Research by Take Five to Stop Fraud revealed that almost half of respondents (45 per cent) believe they are most likely to be targeted by a fraudster over the phone. However, fewer people identified the internet as the place where people are most likely to be targeted. The majority of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud started online in the first half of 2024, and whilst a third (33 per cent) of people were aware of fraud risks on social media, only 12 per cent see online marketplaces or auction sites as the place where they are most likely to be targeted by fraudsters. This is despite scammers often using these sites for purchase scams, where paid-for items never arrive. Purchase scams were the most common type of APP fraud in the first half of 2024, highlighting the prevalence of these scams.’
Complaints Outlook 2024: using complaints insight to shape the future of your approach
12 February 2025
‘The most prominent observations are that firms are improving their complaints-handling processes, while staff are more consistently employing skills such as empathy and displaying knowledge which instils greater confidence in complainants. Despite this, in a digital world, the bar of expectation continues to rise. Today’s consumers, increasingly accustomed to seamless, always-on interactions, in turn expect accessibility and efficiency when dealing with their financial services providers.’
Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence
14 February 2025
‘Though some of the hype around Generative AI (Gen AI) is cooling down, the business opportunities are real. According to research conducted by World Economic Forum, AI will add 14 per cent increase to global GDP by 2030, equivalent to a growth of $15.7 trillion! Another research by one of the global tech companies suggests that 750m new applications will be built in the next 2 years, many will use AI and drive productivity in all sorts of ways.’
Bank manager and friend sentenced for £7.3 million fraud scheme
17 February 2025
‘Between 2017 and 2019, Jan Ciecierski and Rukon Miah, both 39, opened 394 fraudulent business accounts that were used to launder fraudulently obtained funds. Miah worked as a Business Manager at the bank and Ciecierski supplied counterfeit documents for Miah to open the accounts. The fraudulent money was then passed through the bank accounts to be cashed out or was sent to offshore banks. The money funnelled through the accounts was mostly obtained by fraud committed against UK and International companies, including charities, as well as individuals. Miah worked at the bank for six years before being arrested in 2019 for conspiracy to defraud the bank. Ciecierski was linked to the investigation as Miah provided the names, addresses and ID documents of the individuals, as well as counterfeit utility bills that were used to open the accounts.’
FS-ISAC releases guidance on quantum computing risks for credit card industry
14 February 2025
‘Quantum computers would theoretically be much more powerful than modern computers and could be used to crack many cryptography algorithms currently used to protect computer systems. The papers — produced by FS-ISAC’s Post Quantum Cryptography Working Group — concluded that more than 20 billion devices will need to be migrated to quantum-safe cryptography. The group developed three detailed use cases to offer insights into cryptographic assumptions, quantum’s impact, mitigation techniques and the current industry status of key payment card industry elements.’
Senators introduce bill to create stablecoin regulatory framework
5 February 2025
‘Among its provisions, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act would establish clear procedures for institutions seeking licenses to issue stablecoins, according to a summary of the bill. It also would implement reserve requirements and “light-touch, tailored regulatory standards” for stablecoin issuers. For issuers of more than $10 billion of stablecoins, the legislation would apply the Federal Reserve’s regulatory framework to depository institutions and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s framework for nonbank issuers. It allows for state regulation of issuers under $10 billion in market capitalization and provides a waiver process for issuers exceeding the threshold to remain state-regulated.’
Survey: Bank customers seeking ‘complete’ picture of finance
31 January 2025
‘Many bank customers are expressing more interest in seeing a complete picture of their finances in one place, according to the latest bank customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power. Forty-one percent of respondents said it is extremely important for a bank’s mobile app to show the balances of their external accounts. That interest has grown across all financial health segments since the question was last asked in May 2024, with stressed customers seeing the biggest jump in interest. The number of bank customers who were financially healthy in December 2024 remained unchanged at 31% from the previous month, while 44% of bank customers fall into the vulnerable category, according to J.D. Power.
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