Financial Crime World

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Banking Industry Best Practices for Compliance in Bulgaria Emerge at Spotlight Event

Sofia - A Landmark Event Brings Together the Bulgarian FinTech Community

The Bulgarian FinTech community recently came together to discuss compliance and financial crime in a landmark event organized by Eleven Ventures and the European Compliance Center. The spotlight shone brightly on the importance of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Financial Crime prevention, as entrepreneurs and AML/financial crime specialists engaged in valuable discussions.

Launch of Bulgaria’s First FinTech Report

The event coincided with the launch of Bulgaria’s first FinTech report, highlighting the country’s rapid growth as a Fintech destination in the CEE region. According to Raiffeisen Bank International’s newest CEE Fintech Atlas, Bulgaria is the fastest-growing fintech hub in the region.

Over 40 Guests Attend the Event

Over 40 guests from the banking and financial sectors attended the event, including compliance specialists, financial experts, and entrepreneurs. The attendees delved into new challenges and trends in money-laundering prevention, discussing key topics such as:

  • Onboarding processes
  • Sanction screening
  • Transaction monitoring
  • RegTech solutions for effective compliance

Balancing Commercial and Regulatory Demands

The biggest challenge facing the FinTech community is striking a balance between commercial demands and regulatory requirements. All speakers agreed that FinTech entrepreneurs must prioritize AML/financial crime prevention from the outset of their business activities.

Banks’ Role in Supporting FinTechs

  • The industry would benefit from banks acting as partners rather than rivals
  • Established financial institutions can help innovative FinTechs adapt to the regulatory landscape by sharing their compliance expertise and know-how

RegTech’s Role in Minimizing Manual Processes

The future of FinTech compliance lies in leveraging technology to minimize manual processes and human input. Start-ups can avoid traditional financial institutions’ mistakes by being agile, flexible, and path-independent.

  • Automatization is crucial in two areas:
    • Identification and verification of clients through multiple information sources
    • Identifying suspicious transactions using data mining algorithms that analyze large volumes of data

Cross-Sectoral Engagement

Participants called for more cross-sectoral engagement between firms, regulators, and compliance professionals to foster better communication and alignment. They emphasized the need for national AML regimes to be aligned with international standards.

The Future of Compliance in Bulgaria

The FinTech Spotlight event marked the beginning of initiatives aimed at bringing together businesses, the public sector, academics, and other stakeholders interested in compliance and integrity more frequently. The European Compliance Center believes that positive social change will only come about through professionals and organizations working together and sharing ideas and best practices.