By FINTECH Books Contributor, Marcel Krist The IMF states clearly that Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism are financial crimes. Therefore,regulators from various jurisdictions are trying to outperform the AML/CFT-rules developed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),with their localized, specific and more stringent regulations. Financial institutions are well aware of the rules and their specifications and of course of the consequences of non-compliance and non-mitigation of factors that facilitate financial abuse. Compliance Officers and Risk Managers know that they must be AML/CFT compliant (24×7) in each legal entity and branch around the globe. However, taking a closer look it’s clear that some financial institutions (FIs) are managing the AML/CFT regulations like a fare dodger. They deliberately ignore the rules until they get caught and are prepared and willing to pay significant fines with “AML-Accruals”. For each day, they breach regulation they are setting aside funds for fines which most certainly occur in the future. How can regulators enforce the law and ensure that FI’s are applying the AML/CFT-rules appropriately? What tools do regulators have at their disposal to ensure a stringent execution of the AML/CFT-rules? Do IT-Vendors have the right KYC- and CDD-tools and platforms to fight financial crime? Do they need to become more disruptive? Will RegTech be a game changer to mitigate the adverse effects of criminal economic activity?