Newsletter, 19th ed.

Welcome to the 19th Edition of Perspective, by i3strategies®️ .

Thank you to everyone who reads and subscribes to our newsletter.

If you are new to this newsletter, here is a quick introduction:

i3strategies®️ is a market research and strategy consulting firm with expertise in Financial Crime Risk and Compliance, spanning Money Laundering, Corruption and Bribery, Sanctions, Fraud, and Cybercrime.

Our commercial focus is on Finance, Tech, Professional Services, Private Equity, and Venture Capital clients.

This newsletter covers the business and strategy sides of Financial Crime Risk and Compliance. Enjoy the read, and thank you!

Investments, Mergers and Acquisitions

In May 2024, we tracked four (4) investments and five (5) acquisitions. Here are the deals that were announced:

Baselayer / $6.5M Seed Round

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501810500/en/Baselayer-Raises-6.5M-Seed-Round-to-Redefine-Business-Risk-with-AI-Risk-Engine

Data Zoo / $22.7M Series A Round

https://www.datazoo.com/data-zoo-secures-series-a-funding-for-global-expansion

Footprint / $13M Series A Round

https://www.onefootprint.com/blog/footprint-13m-series-a-led-by-qed

Orca Fraud / $550K Pre-Seed Round

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/orca-fraud-raises-pre-seed-funding-thalia-pillay-fy3if/?trackingId=vhomxuTuQ52bK%2FRJ8Ie%2BMw%3D%3D

Permira acquires BioCatch ($1.3B Valuation)

https://www.permira.com/news-and-insights/announcements/permira-to-acquire-majority-position-in-biocatch-at-13bn-valuation

Corlytics acquires Deloitte UK RegTech platform

https://www.corlytics.com/press-release/global-regtech-consolidator-corlytics-acquires-deloitte-uks-regtech-platform/

Cube acquires Thomson Reuters Global Regulatory Intelligence Business

https://cube.global/about-us/news/cube-acquires-global-regulatory-intelligence-businesses-from-thomson-reuters

Plenitude Consulting acquires Contineo 

https://www.plenitudeconsulting.com/plenitude-acquires-contineo/

Lukka acquires Coinfirm

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lukka-acquires-coinfirm-bringing-audited-data-to-blockchain-analytics-compliance-and-investigations-302151565.html

Market News

Here are recent rebranding, partnerships, product releases, and innovations happening across the Financial Crime Risk and Compliance solutions landscape.

Oscilar partners with Fingerprint

https://oscilar.com/blog/oscilar-fingerprint-partnership

Alloy partners with Coris

https://www.coris.ai/blog/alloy-coris-automate-smb-merchant-risk-fraud-intelligence?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social

Tuum partners with TransactionLink

https://tuum.com/news/tuum-x-transactionlink-partner-to-streamline-fintech-onboarding-processes/

Oscilar partners with Enigma

https://oscilar.com/blog/oscilar-enigma-partnership

Exiger partners Kharon

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/exiger-and-kharon-announce-strategic-partnership-to-accelerate-innovation-at-a-critical-moment-in-global-supply-chain-risk-management-302144072.html

CSI partners with TruStage™️ Compliance Solutions

https://www.csiweb.com/who-we-are/csi-newsroom/csi-partners-with-trustage/

Oscilar partners with Socure

https://oscilar.com/blog/oscilar-socure-partnership

Oscilar Unveils Groundbreaking AI-Powered AML Risk Platform

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oscilar-unveils-groundbreaking-ai-powered-aml-risk-platform-transforming-compliance-for-fintechs-sponsor-banks-and-financial-ecosystem-302110349.html

Saifr Launches Adverse Media Screening and Sanctions Monitoring Solution

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saifr-launches-adverse-media-screening-and-sanctions-monitoring-solution-302144285.html

Hummingbird Announces Customer Due Diligence Solution

https://www.hummingbird.co/resources/announcing-customer-due-diligence-solution

Detected Introduces Co-Pilot KYB Solution

https://www.detected.co

Sardine Product Updates for Q1 Released

https://www.sardine.ai/blog/product-update-q1-2024

(Substack Article) The Chief AML Officer and their Role as the Head of Financial Crime Risk and Compliance

The industry has created a lot of inconsistencies around the title, scope, and role of the individual charged with managing financial crime risk and compliance. For many organizations, siloed approaches are the norm when contemplating the setup of an AML or fraud program. These programs are often layered into middle management under executive verticals like risk, legal, compliance, operations, or shared services.

Regulators only compound the problem by offering obscure guidance or leaving boards and management with the courtesy of using their discretion.

I have been an advocate for the integration of the financial crime domains as a writer, speaker, advisor, and practitioner for nearly two decades. As such, I am an advocate for a single point of leadership, at the executive level, when it comes to managing financial crime risk and compliance.

https://vicmaculaitis.substack.com/p/the-chief-aml-officer-and-their-role

(LinkedIn Post/Substack Note) 

The concept of a "Whole-of-Government Approach" (WGA) has existed since the late 1990s. There has been increasing discussion about WGA in the US in recent years. Lately, I've been using the term "whole-of-organization" in the context of strategies to combat financial crime. 

In the finance sector, "whole-of-org" refers to the idea of the board, management, business lines, and all shared services across the enterprise working together under a unified approach to combat financial crime. 

In my opinion, the "Line of Defense" (LOD) model has always caused too much friction, lacked real coordination, and failed to provide a unified approach to combatting financial crime. 

Directors, Management, CAMLOs, and Business Leaders ⇢ remember you are all in the same boat and rowing together!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vicmac03_the-concept-of-a-whole-of-government-approach-activity-7201994564025344000-h-v9?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

(Podcast / FinCrime Strategy: Ep. 07)

https://vicmaculaitis.substack.com/p/fincrime-strategy-ep-07

(Podcast / FinCrime Strategy: Ep. 08)

https://vicmaculaitis.substack.com/p/fincrime-strategy-ep-08

Be sure to subscribe to Perspective, by Vic Maculaitis on Substack for more posts, articles, and podcast episodes.