Event description
As of July 2027, the EU Anti-Money Laundering framework will require obliged entities to strengthen their approaches to geographic risk assessment as part of broader AML/CFT compliance obligations. As implementation approaches, Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), enforcement authorities and policymakers are considering how these requirements can be translated into effective and proportionate practice.
Alongside evolving regulatory expectations, a growing range of geographic risk assessment methodologies, indicators and data sources is emerging. This raises important questions regarding which risk factors should be prioritised, what evidence institutions should rely upon, and how authorities can support consistent implementation across the AML/CFT ecosystem.
At the same time, institutions face important questions regarding how geographic risks should be identified, measured and documented, how different risk indicators can be incorporated into existing compliance frameworks, and how methodologies can be justified to supervisors.
This webinar aims to explore practical approaches to geographic risk assessment and to examine how different types of geographic risk information such as financial secrecy, transparency and governance, can support institutions in developing risk-based compliance frameworks ahead of the July 2027 implementation deadline.
Speakers
Catherine Greene
Catherine Greene is a lawyer who graduated from the University of San Andrés and holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Yale University. She currently serves as Anti-Financial Crime Senior Manager at N26, a European digital bank based in Berlin, where she advises the board on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) matters.
Previously, she worked as Policy and Country Manager at the EITI International Secretariat in Oslo, working with several Latin American countries on transparency and anti-corruption issues in the extractive industries. In parallel, she was responsible for publications at the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre in Bergen.
Catherine has also worked in Washington, DC, as a Senior Consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, focusing on AML/CFT, anti-corruption, and public officials’ asset declarations.
Jonathan Phyall
Dr Jonathan Phyall is the Head of the Legal Affairs Section of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU). Having joined the FIAU in 2016, he has taken part in a number of projects and initiatives related to AML/CFT at the local, European and international level. Together with his team, he has been responsible for drafting legislative proposals and guidance for different sectors having AML/CFT obligations. He has also represented Malta and the FIAU in a number of European and international fora. Jonathan is also a trained MONEYVAL assessor and has taken part in a number of mutual evaluations.
Pauline Saliba
Dr Pauline Saliba has a long-standing career in Malta’s public sector, including fifteen years in the Economic Policy Department of the Ministry for Finance. She joined Malta’s National Coordinating Committee on Combating ML and TF (NCC) in 2019 as Chief Economics Officer and has served as Executive Secretary and Head of the Secretariat since February 2023. With a PhD in Economics and experience in AML/CFT training both locally and internationally, Dr Saliba contributes to the NCC’s work through her leadership of the Secretariat, including national coordination, national risk assessment, and the development of measures relating to Malta’s AML/CFT framework.
George Voloshin
George is a global expert in anti-financial crime at THE Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and member of ACAMS’ global SMEs team. He previously headed the Paris branch of a leading corporate intelligence consultancy and has strong credentials in corporate investigations and political risk analysis.An ACAMS-certified global sanction specialist (CGSS) and certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS), he has expertise in the geopolitics, security and economics of wider Europe and the former Soviet Union. George has written extensively on international affairs and has published to date two books and hundreds of articles.George’s specialties include Corporate Intelligence, Political & Country Risk, Business Integrity Investigations (FCPA, UK Bribery Act, Sapin II, etc.), Russia/CIS, Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering& Financing of Terrorism, Compliance & Risk Management, Economic Sanctions, Export Control, Business Development, Client Management, Strategic Planning, Public Speaking, Thought Leadership, Geopolitics and Energy.
Andres Knobel
Andres Knobel is Lead Researcher Beneficial Ownership for the Tax Justice Network. He studied Law at the University of Buenos Aires and was an exchange student at Columbia University in New York. He completed his Master’s degree in Law and Economics at Di Tella University, focusing on tax law and public policy. His work focuses on beneficial ownership, offshore trusts and automatic exchange of banking information