BCG on Compliance

In compliance, moments of uncertainty can define careers and reshape organizations. But what does it take to make sound judgments under intense pressure? How do you steer a team through a crisis without overpromising or losing trust?

To explore these questions, our guest host and BCG senior executive Bernhard Gehra, is joined by senior compliance professional Satnam Lehal. In a wide-ranging discussion they touch on the difference between everyday problems and true crises, the risks of complacency, and why good leaders must be both detail-oriented and strategic. 

You’ll hear candid insights on judgment, decision-making, and...

Insider trading doesn’t always start with a grand plan. Sometimes it starts with a single decision made in isolation.

In this episode, we talk to Tom Hardin, a former hedge fund analyst turned FBI informant, known in headlines as “Tipper X.” Tom opens up about his descent into insider trading, what it was like to wear a wire for the FBI and the personal and professional aftermath of becoming one of the most prolific cooperating witnesses in modern financial crime history.

We explore how decisions made in isolation can quietly undermine compliance, and how cultur...

We are in the midst of a virtual asset revolution. Consumers are diversifying their portfolios to include crypto, but integration with financial institutions has been a challenge. Sheetal Bhardwaj, is at the forefront of compliance in the changing digital asset landscape. Sheetal is a banker, an expert in the digital asset domain and an anti-financial crime professional. 

Sheetal’s career in the risk and compliance sector spans over 20 years. Most recently, she has helped organizations from big-four accounting firms to challenger cryptocurrency platforms to navigate the integration of digital assets and traditional banking infrastructure. Sheetal is an exp...

As cybercrime, identity theft, and financial fraud rise, regulators are ramping up their responses—and companies and their compliance teams need to adapt to that change. Dr. Simone Kaempfer, partner at law firm Freshfields and head of the firm’s White Collar Defense Practice Group for Continental Europe, is an expert at navigating complex commercial legislation and compliance issues.

Dr. Kaempfer is one of the most respected criminal defence lawyers in Germany. She defends companies and individuals in white collar crime proceedings in and out of court. She has extensive experience in advising companies in all areas of w...

Risk doesn't end with due diligence, it intensifies when money starts moving. But who really owns the responsibility for transaction monitoring, and how can organizations collaborate across silos to stay ahead of fraud?

In this episode  Hanjo Siebert sits down with Vincent Walden, CEO of Kona AI, to explore how companies can modernize their compliance risk management practices by leveraging data, cross-functional governance, and culture.

Vincent shares real-world cases, explains why culture often determines the success of compliance strategy and offers actionable advice for building transparency into your operations.

Vincent’s stories, from unc...

The demand for skilled compliance professionals has never been higher. But what does it take to stand out in this competitive space? How are hiring trends shifting, and what role does new technology  play in shaping the future of compliance careers?

To answer these questions, in this episode of BCG on Compliance, our special guest host Amalie Wedege is stepping in for our regular host Hanjo Siebert. She’s joined by Jessica Hamilton, co-founder of financial crime recruitment agency FincSelect and a top recruiter in financial crime compliance. 

They discuss the evolving landscape of financial crim...

For 12 years, Rowena Fell worked in British military intelligence, assessing threats in high-risk zones like Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Iraq. She followed that up with 17 years in senior corporate roles, applying her expertise to business risk management. Now a Senior Director of Knowledge at BCG, she helps organizations prepare for an increasingly complex risk landscape.

In this episode, Rowena shares how military principles can help compliance professionals sharpen their risk management strategies. From crisis preparation to regulatory shifts, we explore why companies must take an integrated approach to compliance and operational risk—and how AI and emerging te...

This week we're resharing one of our more popular episodes. Enjoy!

Traditional compliance has always relied on rules and red flags, but for Tobias Schweiger, there is a smarter way. Tobias is co-founder and CEO of Hawk, an AML and fraud prevention software provider, and he believes in bridging the gap between cautious, law-driven approaches and the power of AI. It’s not about rewriting the rulebook, it's about transforming how we read it.

Before founding Hawk, Tobias had leadership roles at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategy. Today, his focus is aimed sharply on...

For nearly 30 years, Robert Mazur served as a Federal Special Agent for multiple U.S. agencies. But his most perilous work came during the years he spent deep undercover, infiltrating two of Colombia’s most powerful drug cartels -  a story so extraordinary it’s been captured in two books and a Hollywood film. His covert operations led him into life-threatening situations, including narrowly escaping a fatal encounter with a hit squad in Panama. 

In this episode, Robert takes us inside his experiences investigating the financial operations of some of the world’s most dangerous criminals. He also sha...

As the geopolitical landscape continues to shift dramatically,  risk management practices need to evolve as well. Ted Datta knows this all too well. As Head of Financial Crime Practice at Moody's Analytics, he's focused on using data to unravel layers of ownership and help spot sanctions evasion, discover human rights risks, combat money laundering, and strengthen compliance practices overall. 

In this episode, Ted takes us through some of Moody's data tools, including their comprehensive shell company indicator, and the seven indicators that drive it. He also shares what businesses need to do to up their anti-financial crime ga...

For most of his career, Alastair Gray has been working to address the enormous problem of counterfeit goods. Some estimates put the global trade of counterfeits in the trillions, and despite the perception that it’s a victimless crime, there are indeed extraordinary implications that are connected to money laundering, human trafficking, and even funding terrorism. 

As the Director of Anti-Counterfeiting at INTA - The International Trademark Association - Alastair is working to unite law enforcement and stakeholders across industries and jurisdictions to stifle the vast global networks that counterfeits run through.

In this episode, Ala...

Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2025 with a re-share of one of our most popular episodes from last year. Enjoy!

In 2016, after Volkswagen's disastrous emissions scandal came to light, Hiltrud Werner took on the challenging role of Group Audit Director for the company and later as their Head of Integrity and Legal Affairs 

This was no easy task. With the car manufacturer mired in legal and financial penalties, Hiltrud and her team needed to not only investigate the root causes of this ethical breakdown, but they also had the enormous job of rebuilding the culture o...

December marks the one-year anniversary of BCG on Compliance, and with the holidays and the new year just around the corner, there’s a lot to celebrate, and even more compliance topics to dive into.

We’ve just wrapped Season Two of BCG on Compliance and as 2024 comes to a close, we’re looking back on a great year, filled with thought-provoking conversations, groundbreaking insights, and inspiring moments in the compliance space. We’re also not wasting any time, and we’ll be leaping ahead to more amazing compliance conversations for Season Three, starting in January.

So check...

Over the past season we’ve heard from some of the brightest minds behind the latest Gen AI tools revolutionizing compliance, and there’s a lot to unpack. These conversations tackled how AI can make compliance faster, more accurate and help financial institutions stay one step ahead of increasingly sophisticated criminals. 

As we wrap up Season Two, it’s time to reflect. In this special episode, the tables are turned as Hanjo steps into the guest’s seat, interviewed by BCG’s Debora de Cuyper. Together they dive deep into the key takeaways from this past season’s guests, inc...

This week, we're looking back at another popular episode from this year: its a deep dive into the work of the Responsible AI Institute. We'll be back soon with a new episode to wrap up Season 2!

Episode Summary

With AI shifting the world around us and the ground under our feet, Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac and her colleagues at the Responsible AI Institute are working with organizations to safely navigate this changing landscape. 

The institute was founded in 2016, long before AI became such a hot topic, and before responsible AI became a pressing concern ac...

This week, we're bringing you a rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes of this year: a fascinating talk with Andy Maguire about his work with HSBC during a very challenging time.

Episode Summary

In 2014, Andy McGuire joined HSBC as Group Chief Operating Officer at one of the most difficult times in the bank's history. Investigations had revealed that poor control processes had led to billions in illicit funds moving through the bank, funding drug cartels and terrorists.

Andy had a key role in engineering an extensive remediation process that took years...

Traditional compliance has always relied on rules and red flags, but for Tobias Schweiger, there is a smarter way. Tobias is co-founder and CEO of Hawk, an AML and fraud prevention software provider, and he believes in bridging the gap between cautious, law-driven approaches and the power of AI. It’s not about rewriting the rulebook, it's about transforming how we read it.

Before founding Hawk, Tobias had leadership roles at the intersection of finance, technology, and strategy. Today, his focus is aimed sharply on using tech to innovate in heavily regulated industries. 

In this epi...

In some ways, compliance has become a race against time. Financial institutions need to move quickly in the face of fragmented regulations, siloed decision-making, and overwhelming amounts of data. No one knows this better than Chiara Gelmini and Michael Baldauf, two directors at PegaSystems. 

Chiara and Michael have spent years helping financial institutions tackle these challenges, and in this episode they share how simplifying the process could change the game in compliance.

KYC, AML processes, and financial crime investigations have become more complicated than ever. As regulations evolve across different jurisdictions and the need for s...

Parsa Ghaffari is the Head of Product Innovation at Quantexa, where he focuses on enhancing their Decision Intelligence platform to harness the power of both structured and unstructured data. Quantexa's platform is designed to help organizations uncover hidden risks and new opportunities by providing a unified view of data, enabling better decision-making across various industries, including financial services, telecommunications, and government. This role follows Quantexa's acquisition of Aylien, a company Parsa founded, which specialized in natural language processing (NLP) and AI-driven market intelligence solutions.

Parsa founded Aylien straight out of university, leveraging his passion for coding that...

We’re back with a new season exploring the future of compliance  with innovators and ground-breakers! In the coming months, Hanjo is looking at the tech that is transforming the industry and reshaping how compliance is done. 

In our first episode of the season, Hanjo sits down with Yaron Hazan, VP of Regulatory Affairs at ThetaRay, a software provider pioneering new uses of AI and machine learning for financial crime detection and anti-money laundering.

Financial crime is evolving as quickly as our digital financial systems are, and no one knows this better than Yaron. He has...

We wrapped our first season of BCG on Compliance a couple of weeks ago and we’re busy putting Season 2 together for September. But in the meantime, we know you’re always looking for more fascinating conversations on compliance, so this week we’re sharing a bonus episode from another great BCG show: Fintech Files.

Fintech Files is hosted by Nora Hocke, Annika Melchert and Bianca Lopes. They specialize in IT strategy, modern tech architecture, and state-of-the-art banking. The show unravels the most innovative trends disrupting the world of Fintech today and delves deep into the dynamic landscap...

The last few episodes we’ve been looking at AI implementation and risk management with leading industry experts who are helping to forge the path forward. In our final episode of the season (don’t worry, we’ll be back with season 2 in September!) Hanjo sits down with Carter Cousineau, VP of Responsible AI and Data at Thomson Reuters. 

Carter has spent her career working with a range of companies and institutions to build responsible tech systems from the ground up. Working with Thomson Reuters, she heads a team focused on raising the bar for data governance and res...

With AI shifting the world around us and the ground under our feet, Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac and her colleagues at the Responsible AI Institute are working with organizations to safely navigate this changing landscape. 

The institute was founded in 2016, long before AI became such a hot topic, and before responsible AI became a pressing concern across industries. Today, the Institute is busier than ever helping member organizations understand and implement AI at a tactical level through system and organizational assessments, examining policy and governance, and building a certification program. It’s challenging, exciting, and important work where the p...

Kirsten Rulf is  a leading expert in AI theory, ethics, policy and practice, and leads the  Financial Institutions team for BCG X. Her tech policy career took root 10 years ago when she was a journalist living in China, and she became fascinated with the ubiquitous technology that was already so integrated into daily life in the country. From there, she launched a fascinating career exploring theoretical, ethical and political issues around technology that has taken her to Harvard’s Kennedy School, and then to advising German Chancellors Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz on digital policy. 

With GenAI being...

In 2016, after Volkswagen's disastrous emissions scandal came to light, Hiltrud Werner took on the challenging role of Group Audit Director for the company and later as their Head of Integrity and Legal Affairs 

This was no easy task. With the car manufacturer mired in legal and financial penalties, Hiltrud and her team needed to not only investigate the root causes of this ethical breakdown, but they also had the enormous job of rebuilding the culture of the company and restoring global trust in the brand.

Katharina Hefter, leads BCG Risk & Compliance in Central Europe, and w...

Imagine a luxurious place where the world’s kleptocrats and criminals enjoy a permissive, unregulated financial system structured to help them move and hide their stolen funds with incredible ease. Such a place exists, and it’s called London, England. 

Journalist Oliver Bullough has spent the past several years investigating global financial crime, and the dark worlds of tax havens and shell companies, everywhere. But in his most recent book, Butler to the World, he dives into the shocking ways that the British government helps the criminal world’s worst people commit their crimes. The city of London...

In 2014, Andy McGuire joined HSBC as Group Chief Operating Officer at one of the most difficult times in the bank's history. Investigations had revealed that poor control processes had led to billions in illicit funds moving through the bank, funding drug cartels and terrorists.

Andy had a key role in engineering an extensive remediation process that took years and millions of dollars. But during that process, he and his team made huge leaps forward and the transformation contributed to significant compliance innovations that still have impacts a decade later. 

On this episode of BCG on C...

Over his remarkable 30+ year career, Carlo Appetiti’s work in risk, compliance, anti-fraud and anti-financial crime has played a critical role in the evolution of banking compliance. He’s worked with some of the world's most prominent financial institutions, with pivotal roles at Deutsche Bank and Unicredit, and now sits on the Boards of several banks. But at a time when financial crimes are getting increasingly sophisticated, the stakes have never been higher to elevate compliance in every organization.

Now a Senior Advisor with BCG, Carlo joins us on our debut episode of BCG on Compliance to explor...

What are today’s most pressing criminal trends and how are compliance experts adapting to counter those threats?

As financial crimes become  increasingly sophisticated, compliance can no longer be just a checkbox. It’s emerged as a transformative force in every industry, reshaping practices in ethics, risk management, money laundering and cyber security. 

Introducing BCG on Compliance, a new podcast from Boston Consulting Group where we dive deep into the minds driving that change.

Hosted by Hanjo Seibert, a leading expert in compliance, anti-financial crime and fraud, BCG on Compliance features interviews with heavy...