ACAMSEurope was held on June 14-15, 2022, offering one of the world’s largest gathering of financial crime fighters. It was an opportunity to network in Brussels; dive into complex AFC issues, including the EU Commission’s new AML/CFT legislative package, what to expect from the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA), the regulation of cryptocurrencies, and the post-pandemic rise of technologies such as blockchain forensics and alternative payment platforms.

Erremme Business Advisors, in its continuous bid to keep abreast of the latest global developments which concern its functions and operations, has sent its representative, Luana Demicoli, the company’s Compliance Assistant to ACAMSEurope to further enhance her knowledge and skills and assist the company in staying ahead of financial crime threats.

Luana Demicoli is a 22-year-old Criminology graduate who has been part of the Erremme Business Advisors’ team since August 2021. Her position within the company is Compliance Assistant and her main role is to oversee the implementation of KYC and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards. From a KYC perspective, she handles the onboarding process of new clients while conducting periodic reviews on existing ones.

But what does it mean to actually be present for ACAMSEurope? We speak to Luana to find out more about this unique experience at ACAMS Europe…

Question: ACAMS Europe is one of the world’s largest gathering of financial crime fighters – what was the scope of your attendance vis-à-vis your role within Erremme?

Luana: Working as a compliance assistant, this attendance was vital as I learnt about the new trends, like the rise of crypto and emerging issues in Europe including the ongoing Russian repercussions. In addition, my role entails focusing on the KYC process and thus, the conference helped me to have more knowledge on how to use KYC/CDD in order to expose financial criminals.

Question: How would you describe your experience at ACAMS and what did you take away from the conference?

Luana: This was my first time attending the ACAMS conference and I can say that it has been a fruitful experience. I have got a better understanding of the new trends in financial crime and compliance creation. We also discussed how to adopt new technologies in order to boost AFC/CTF while protecting the company from the modern-day fraudster.  In addition, I learnt about the latest insights on the AML/CFT and the digital revolution including the crypto world while learning new ways of being more AML effective in the working environment. Apart from this, it helped me to connect with like-minded professionals, experts and other attendees coming from different countries and learning about how they get along with AML implementation within their respective companies. Overall, this was an incredible experience and would like to thank Erremme for giving me this opportunity.

Question: How will this experience translate/impact your work within Erremme on a day-to-day basis?

Luana: This experience will help me to be more confident at work especially when conducting KYC screening, as I will know what to look at, when and how to combat financial crimes. I will also share my knowledge with my colleagues on the latest developments and trends of AML regulatory.

Question: Overall, how do you think your experience will benefit Erremme and its day-to-day functions as a business advisory entity?

Luana: My experience will be an asset to Erremme especially in its day-to-day functions as I will be ensuring a thorough AML monitoring and checks prior to/after providing business advice to our clients. As a result, I will help reduce financial crime risks and to build robust Anti-Financial Crime readiness within the company while providing excellent service to our clients and achieving the company’s goals.