Recorded live at Sibos in Frankfurt, in partnership with LSEG Risk Intelligence, this episode of the c-suite podcast explores how innovation, regulation, and AI are reshaping payments and compliance. Host Graham Barrett speaks with industry leaders including: Michael Meadon, Director, Asia Pacific, LSEG Risk Intelligence Florence Vicentini, Chief Commercial Officer, Neterium Stephen Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Banking, Fireblocks Pablo Villegas Garcia, EMEA Payments Head, AWS Deepak Arora, Head of Banking – SVP and Head of Banking – Continental Europe, HCLTech Marc Andrews, Global Managing Director, Pegasystems inc. From the explosion of global sanctions and the rise of stablecoins, to the use of cloud and AI in fighting financial crime, and the shift toward agentic and autonomous banking systems, the discussion reveals how institutions are accelerating innovation while maintaining resilience, trust, and regulatory rigour. Mike Meadon, Director, Asia pacific, LSEG Risk Intelligence Graham (left) with Michael Meadon, LSEG Risk Intelligence Mike provides a detailed look into the LSEG Risk Intelligence Global Sanctions Index, which was launched in March of this year. The Index was designed to address the lack of quantitative insight into the evolving sanctions environment. Drawing comparisons to price inflation, Mike explains how the Index captures a dramatic rise in the number of sanctioned individuals and entities. Mike highlights the increasing strain on compliance teams as the volume of sanctions expands. The consequences of missteps are severe, making accuracy and speed more critical than ever. In response, LSEG recently launched World-Check On Demand, unveiled at Sibos, to help institutions navigate these pressures. Shifting gears, the conversation turns to the Asia-Pacific region, where Mike oversees operations. He describes APAC as a hotbed of payment innovation, citing diverse economies, significant remittance needs, and a strong entrepreneurial spirit as key drivers. As the discussion looks forward, Mike flags the continuing impact of geopolitical developments on trade and payments in the region. With recent global conflicts and rising tensions, he emphasises the importance for institutions to remain agile and prepared for disruptions. The intersection of sanctions and geopolitics, especially in APAC, will likely remain a key area of risk and strategic focus. Mike closes by encouraging vigilance and adaptability as the region continues to innovate amid an increasingly complex global environment. Florence Vicentini, Chief Commercial Officer, Neterium with Florence Vicentini, Neterium Florence begins by outlining Neterium’s core offering. As a technology company, Neterium focuses specifically on screening, a crucial yet highly specialised part of the fight against financial crime. The company’s aim is to provide a future-proof solution that adapts quickly to an ever-changing regulatory landscape. Financial crime, Florence explains, has become increasingly complex and fast-moving, often evolving in step with technological advances. In recent years, sanctions have become a geopolitical tool, changing rapidly in response to global events. Institutions now expect screening solutions that can be implemented and adjusted at speed, offering compliance from day one of a new regulatory development. In a landscape that is difficult to predict, agility and responsiveness have become critical capabilities. Florence highlights the importance of collaboration in combating financial crime. Neterium, for example, partners with organisations like LSEG, which supplies sanctions data to power screening tools. Neterium focuses on technology, while LSEG provides the content. By working closely within this ecosystem, companies can offer clients the most up-to-date and effective solutions. Florence explores how artificial intelligence and cloud computing are changing the game in payment screening, though she cautions that these tools come with both opportunities and challenges. As payments move increasingly towards real-time processing, especially with the rise of instant payments, the challenge is to maintain both speed and accuracy. Florence is clear that effectiveness cannot be compromised, true hits must be detected without fail. Florence’s conversation with Graham offers a focused look into how financial institutions can navigate today’s complex regulatory landscape through smart use of technology, cloud infrastructure, and collaboration with data providers. Stephen Richardson, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Banking, Fireblocks Stephen Richardson, Fireblocks Stephen begins by highlighting how stablecoins, once largely confined to the crypto-native space for use in trading and decentralised finance, are now gaining traction among traditional financial institutions. As global regulatory frameworks mature, including developments such as MiCA in Europe, the GENIUS Act in the US, and new standards in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, banks are increasingly exploring how to incorporate stablecoins into real-world commercial use cases. Stephen notes that payment service providers (PSPs) and fintechs are currently ahead of the curve in terms of stablecoin adoption. These firms have been quicker to bridge the needs of clients with the opportunities enabled by blockchain-based assets. With increasing disruption potential, traditional financial institutions are recognising that stablecoins present a commercially viable and strategically necessary solution. The conversation turns to Fireblocks’ latest development: the launch of its Network for Payments. The goal is to provide seamless, scalable infrastructure that can be adopted by a wide range of financial players, including banks. When asked about how Fireblocks handles fraud and AML controls while maintaining a frictionless experience, Stephen emphasises the layered approach the company takes. Although concerns about crypto and fraud persist, he argues that traceability within digital assets is actually quite strong. By incorporating regulatory standards, verified counterparties, and governance layers, Fireblocks ensures its network remains secure without compromising on usability. Looking ahead, Stephen flags the growing interest in AI agents in the payments space. While these tools offer exciting opportunities for automation and scale, he cautions that there are risks related to coding, workflow errors and oversight. Pablo Villegas Garcia – EMEA Payments Head, AWS with Pablo Villegas, AWS Drawing from conversations with AWS customers across Europe, Pablo outlines three major themes driving change in the payments space including Real-Time Payments and Financial Crime, Customer Experience and Data-Driven Innovation, Digital Currencies and Stablecoins. The conversation shifts to how AI and cloud infrastructure are transforming the payments value chain, from payment capture through to settlement and reconciliation. Pablo outlines several areas where AI and machine learning are already delivering impact: Enhancing rule-based systems to improve fraud detection Reducing false positives through intelligent data enrichment Supporting transaction categorisation to improve customer visibility of spending Assisting back-office operations by automating repetitive tasks using generative AI One particularly exciting development is the introduction of agentic AI systems. Pablo explains how AWS is working with customers on proofs of concept using agent-based solutions to optimise payments orchestration. Pablo also speaks to the increasing sophistication of financial crime and how new technologies are being deployed to counter it. He highlights three major developments: Data Enrichment and Custom AI Models Unified Solutions Next-Generation Detection with Neural Networks and LLMs As real-time payments continue to scale, so too does the pressure to ensure secure, seamless and intelligent infrastructure. Through cloud-based solutions, AI innovation and data-driven orchestration, AWS is enabling financial institutions to address these challenges head-on. Deepak Arora, SVP and Head of Banking – Continental Europe, HCLTech Deepak Arora, HCL Tech Drawing a comparison with the automotive industry, Deepak highlights how companies like Tesla redefined vehicles by building autonomy into the core design. Similarly, he believes banks must stop thinking of AI as just another layer on top of existing systems. Instead, they should aim for intelligent platforms that act on behalf of users. However, Deepak emphasises that none of this is possible without reimagining processes entirely, rather than simply re-engineering outdated ones. The key to success, he says, is achieving AI readiness, being organisationally, technically, strategically and culturally prepared to implement and scale AI across the business. He also highlights the importance of robust digital infrastructure and strong compliance frameworks to satisfy growing regulatory scrutiny. Regulators will increasingly demand transparency on how AI-driven decisions are made and whether there is any risk of hallucination or bias in generative models. To demonstrate how AI can deliver practical results, Deepak shares an example from a global investment bank that was struggling with the scale of compliance alerts. Thousands of alerts were being reviewed manually by analysts, making it difficult to prioritise and slowing down decision-making. While a human analyst remains in the loop for final decisions, the AI now enables faster, more informed responses. The outcome: improved efficiency, more focus on high-risk alerts, and a meaningful reduction in operational burden. Deepak leaves listeners with a clear message: AI will transform banking, but only for those willing to rethink their approach entirely. The banks that embrace this shift toward autonomy, supported by the right culture and infrastructure, will be the ones to lead the next era of financial innovation. Marc Andrews, Global Managing Director, Pegasystems Inc. Marc Andrews, Pegasystems inc Marc begins by describing the growing challenges in the payments space. While there has been significant innovation with institutions like SWIFT pushing for standardisation, many banks are still grappling with the sheer number of different payment rails and types they must manage. Despite efforts to enable more straight-through processing, exceptions remain common. In many cases, the volume of issues has not decreased. According to Marc, a major contributing factor is the fragmented nature of the ecosystem. Each bank only sees its part of the transaction, making full visibility difficult. Rather than trying to eliminate all exceptions, Pegasystems is focused on how AI and agentic capabilities can accelerate straight-through resolution. Marc explains that it is no longer just about moving tasks along a workflow. The conversation has shifted from automation to intelligent agents that can analyse payment data, identify root causes of exceptions, and assist humans in resolving them more efficiently. While AI holds great promise, Marc cautions against overly risky implementations. He highlights the growing trend among some competitors to rely on open-ended prompts to guide AI behaviour – a method he considers unreliable, particularly in regulated environments. The discussion also turns to fraud prevention and anti-money laundering, where AI is making significant inroads. Marc argues how completely preventing fraud is becoming harder. By using AI to examine patterns across multiple alerts and systems, financial institutions can better identify linked entities and emerging threats. Marc suggests that AI adoption in fraud detection and compliance should follow a staged approach, similar to how new employees are onboarded. Initially, all AI decisions should be reviewed by a human. As confidence grows, that oversight can be gradually reduced. Marc anticipates even more innovation and practical applications of AI in the year ahead, particularly as organisations learn how to scale responsibly and stay compliant. In partnership with PRCA members receive 10 CPD points for listening to this podcast if they log it on the CPD programme. View episode
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