International Advocacy Panel Discusses AML Issues

Panel from left: Paul Andrews, Denise Garfield, Carrie Hunt and Erin O'Hern

WOCCU Vice President of International Advocacy Paul Andrews moderated a WCUC 2025 panel discussion that focused on navigating new developments in anti-money laundering (AML), financial crime prevention and sanctions.

All participants agreed that money laundering and financial crimes have largely become borderless and are evolving rapidly thanks to technology.

“There’s quite the collaborative event that needs to happen in issuing these regulations, but as new technology is emerging, we’re really seeing the types of financial crimes and those risks associated with that move much faster than the regulation in some cases,” said Erin O’Hern, WOCCU International Advocacy and Regulatory Counsel.

Carrie Hunt, Chief Advocacy Officer for America’s Credit Unions, said the United States’ AML Act of 2020 is a perfect example of that. Five years later, it has yet to be implemented.

“Ultimately, we’re in this little bit of a stalled blackout period where we don’t have anything finalized because they’re still trying to dovetail what the functional regulators think needs to happen and what, ultimately, (U.S.) Treasury—which is the overarching regulator—thinks need to happen relative to these measures,” said Hunt.

Denise Garfield, General Manager of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions, said the overriding concern on the credit union level is ensuring employees have the training to spot financial crimes. 

"Where we have some challenges is still with the suspicious transactions reported," said Garfield. "Some people are reporting every transaction as suspicious. There are some who are not reporting any as suspicious."