The Laundry

The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth-biggest criminal market on the planet — behind only narcotics, counterfeiting, and human trafficking. And like any criminal trade of that scale, there's a hugely sophisticated network behind it, moving billions. This week's episode was recorded in the media room at the United for Wildlife Business Forum in London, set up by the Royal Foundation . Our expert...

According to Money20/20, the EMEA region accounts for 48% of the world's outbound cross-border payment flows — just under half! Now put yourself in the position of assessing those billions of transactions, moving at incredible speed, for financial crime risks and suspicious patterns. Sounds like a headache, right? Our expert host, Robin Lycka , is joined by René Hofe r, CRO/CCO & Branch Direct...

What were you doing at seventeen? If you were getting into trouble, it might've been with your teacher or parents! How about uncovering money laundering and, in turn, being sanctioned by the Russian government for your discoveries? Our expert host, Marit Rødevand, is joined by Alexander Browder , founder of the Global Cryptocurrency Laundering Database , to ask: " What does it take to get sanction...

What do you think is keeping anti-financial crime professionals up at night? According to Nasdaq Verafin's latest Global Financial Crime Report, there's something more pressing than deepfakes or even AMLA. It's money launderers growing up, graduating, and acting more like Fortune 500 companies than criminals. Our expert host, Marit Rødevand, is joined by Kamlesh Harry , Principal Strategic Advisor...

Coming to you from Insight Denmark 's recent 'Compliance & Legal in the financial sector' conference in Copenhagen! In the 1984 film Terminator , the T-800 is a threat — a machine sent from the future to destroy us. By the 1991 sequel, the exact same model has been reprogrammed and is now humanity's last line of defence. Is this how we should be looking at technology and financial crime? A thr...

What happens when you take a World Cup fixtures wall chart, the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, the UN sanctions list, and a little AI magic? You uncover the financial crime risks hiding inside the world's biggest sporting event. The World Cup is one week away. While the world celebrates the beautiful game, the allure of football and its riches makes it an irresistible tar...

Everybody in this industry knows Graham Barrow and Ray Blake — who have been unpacking the finer details of financial crime prevention on their podcast, The Dark Money Files , since 2019.  So it was an honour when Marit the first person ever to take up a third chair alongside them, to discuss all things AI in financial crime. In this special takeover episode: we are handing our podcast feed o...

The 1MDB scandal may be the AML industry’s ultimate whack-a-mole – popping back up again and again. A Malaysian government fund set up to boost the country’s economy became one of the biggest frauds in history. Now, the alleged mastermind and current fugitive from the law, Jho Low, has reportedly put in a request for a US presidential pardon from Trump. In this episode, originally published n 2024...

Spin the wheel, roll the dice, play your hand — the world of online gaming is all about calculated risk and reward. Now it's the operators' turn to think about risk. From July 2027, they fall under AMLA's new AML rulebook. Host Robin Lycka is joined by Sam Stenius , Head of AML at PAF , to ask: is the gambling/gaming industry in for an AML wake-up call? They discuss the current challenges facing t...

An effective partnership between a public and private organisation is like forming a band. But as long as these partnerships have been going on, there's been Gallagher brother level tension – so what's the answer? Recorded live at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit in Dublin, Marit Rødevand, is joined by Giuseppe Lopez ( Europol ), Suzanne Gunn ( Department of Justice Ireland ), Lauren Kohr...

We get it – you’re the CEO, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Compliance Officer – you’re busy! And now, you have to think about new AI systems in your compliance process? That’s no small thing on the to-do list! Our expert host, Marit Rødevand is joined by Hanjo Seibert , Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), to tackle the question: Who owns AI in compliance?...

The story is often the same when it comes to AI in financial crime teams: 'We tried it, but it didn't stick.' But, the reality is the AI you tested 18 months ago is a relic compared to what is available today. Our expert host, Marit Rødevand is joined by Pedro Bizarro , Co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Feedzai , to tackle the question: Are you at the bleeding edge of AI in financial crime –...

The latest edition of AML Arena in Helsinki brought together law enforcement, regulators, fintechs, and big banks all in the same room. Rather than letting all that knowledge walk out the door, we grabbed three of the day's speakers for an on-stage round-up session! Our expert host, Marit Rødevand is joined by Aisling Twomey , Head of FinCrime, Business Banking, EU, Sanctions & U16s at Monzo ;...

As an Easter bonus, we have very special Norwegian episode of The Laundry recorded live at SALT in Oslo! Our expert host, Marit Rødevand, is joined by Eirik Furuseth, Founder/Partner at Finansco, Gøran Skaalmo , Investigative Reporter at Dagens Næringsliv, Kristin Nordland Brattli, Partner at Wikborg Rein, and Thomas Osinga , Tribe Lead at Signicat, to ask: Er AML i frontlinjen av en hemmelig krig...

Russia is the most sanctioned nation on planet earth. So, what happens when the US issues a waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil on sanctioned vessels?  We're entering legal murky waters! Our expert host, Robin Lycka , is joined by Kyrre Kjellevold , Associate Professor at University of South-Eastern Norway , and Marina Fridman , Data Journalist at NRK , to ask: Can you switch off sanction...

Bombs are dropping on Iran, and we’ve seen the death of the Supreme Leader, counter-strikes across the region, global supply lanes in crisis, and spiraling oil prices. Despite all the fire and the fury, one thing you can count on is that dark money never stops moving. Our expert host, Marit Rødevand, is joined by Josh Birenbaum , Deputy Director of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the...

The team is on their annual "KY-Ski" trip, located in a cosy cabin in the Norwegian mountains. But denting this "koselig" image is a slew of scandals linked to the release of the Epstein Files, which is making Norway rethink its image as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. Politically exposed persons, undeclared gifts, loans, luxury holidays, Greek villas, the Nobel Peace Prize, the O...

Definitions are always evolving, but how will the next decade redefine the role of the Money Laundering Reporting Officer? This week, The Laundry comes to you live from the PIMFA Financial Crime Conference 2026 . Our expert host, Marit Rødevand , is joined by Aaron Guilder , MLRO at Rathbones , Evgenia Giannoulopoulou , MLRO at Rothschild & Co , and Richard Bernstein , Compliance Director &amp...

On March 18th, Norway’s leading AML and compliance teams — Strise and Signicat —are coming together at SALT, Oslo for: The Laundry Live: Fincrime at Boiling Point! What will the AML team of the future look like? We’ll explore how AI is rewriting the rulebook and how we can gear up to stay one step ahead in an ever-shifting global financial landscape. Agenda for the Evening: Keynote with Thomas Sel...

Strise is developing next-generation technology to help financial crime teams stay one step ahead of criminals. The reason is simple: bad actors are using the technology already out there with great success. In this re-spin (originally published in May 2024), we break down the complex relationship between money laundering and organised crime—and how technology acts as the "rocket booster" driving...

Everyone is talking about Moltbook , the social network exclusively for AI agents built using OpenClaw . But they aren't just chatting —they’re executing tasks, making decisions, and potentially plotting. If these agents are running their own social networks, could they be prompted to orchestrate global fraud, money laundering, and sanctions evasion? Our expert hosts, Marit Rødevand and Robin Lyck...

To mark Valentine's Day and the season of romance, we're re-spinning an incredibly important episode. More than £106m was lost to romance fraud in the UK in 2025, a 9% increase on the year before. Deepfake technology is also making these scams far more sophisticated than before. Our expert host, Marit Rødevand , is joined by Anna Rowe , Co-Founder of LoveSaid , and Simon Miller , Director of Polic...

The old adage about social media is: ' If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.' We’re used to hearing how platforms use our data to feed advertisers, but what if there’s a darker undercurrent? Our expert host, Marit Rødevand , is joined by Jeff Horwitz , Investigative Technology Reporter at Thompson Reuters and author of the book Broken Code: Inside Facebook and Its Harmful Secr...

In this industry, we’re constantly told that financial criminals are 'one step ahead' – but what if the very systems we built to stop them are actually giving them the lead?  Our expert host, Marit Rødevand , is joined by Oliver Bullough , author of Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won , to ask:  Have we got anti-money laundering all wrong?  The pair discuss: t...

The history of AML has always been reactive. We move so fast to catch the next threat that we rarely look back at how we got here. But that changes today! In our 150th episode – Our expert host, Marit Rødevand , is joined by Jessica Cath , Managing Partner at Thistle Initiatives , and Peter Reuter , Professor at the University of Maryland , to open the Museum Of Anti-Money Laundering! The pan...