As financial crime siphons off $1.6tn annually from the global economy, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, integrated compliance solutions are emerging as the linchpin in the battle against illicit finance. At the forefront of this revolution is MCO (MyComplianceOffice), a Dublin-based FinTech powerhouse led by CEO Brian Fahey.
With a platform that unifies data, automates processes, and anticipates risks, MCO is proving that the future of compliance lies in integration—breaking down silos to create a seamless, 360-degree defence against financial crime.
Fahey’s vision, shared in an interview with FinTech Global as part of the FinCrimeTech50, underscores why this approach is not just effective but essential.
The power of a holistic approach
Financial institutions are drowning in complexity. Regulations like the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive and the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act demand rigorous oversight, while the cost of compliance continues to soar—global spending hit $180bn in 2023, per LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
Yet, traditional compliance systems often fragment data across departments, leaving risks undetected. MCO’s solution is a unified platform that integrates every facet of compliance.
“We manage compliance holistically across different parts of the organisation, whether that’s KYC/AML, Employee Conflicts of Interest, Trade Pre-Clearance, etc.,” Fahey explained.
“This gives us a 360 view of risk internally and across all relationships with customers, vendors, and other third parties.”
This interconnectedness is MCO’s secret weapon. By centralising data, the platform ensures that a risk in one area, like a suspicious vendor transaction, triggers scrutiny across the organisation. “
Where risk exists in one part of the organisation, that has a ripple effect on the rest of the business to check for any impacted clients or segments, meaning information and risk is never siloed,” Fahey said.
This approach tackles the critical issue of siloed systems, with disconnected data often hampering the success of AML alerts.
MCO’s platform, with its advanced matching and false positive reduction tools, slashes inefficiencies, ensuring alerts are precise and actionable.
A shared platform for smarter compliance
At the heart of MCO’s strategy is its shared platform: one login, one central dataset.
This simplicity belies its power. The platform screens clients against databases like Factiva and World-Check, automatically assesses risks based on data inputs, and streamlines workflows with automated alerts and approvals.
It manages the entire client lifecycle—from onboarding to offboarding—ensuring compliance at every stage. “We screen using our powerful matching and false positive reduction tools,” Fahey said.
“We risk assess automatically based on all input factors across data, activity, and screening. We manage work effectively and efficiently using best practice workflows, automated processing, alerts, and approval. We also manage the relationship throughout the lifecycle across onboarding, updates, trigger events, reviews, and offboarding.”
This integration saves time and money, with many financial institutions now facing rising compliance costs driven by manual processes.
MCO’s automation of low-risk scenarios—like routine KYC checks—frees up resources for high-priority cases. “Bring in systems that can deliver traceable, auditable KYC/AML checks but can also automate the low-risk scenarios,” Fahey advised.
“The key is to flag only the most relevant clients and alerts for internal review, and to automate the rest.” For boutique advisors with close client relationships, this might mean streamlined due diligence; for large retail banks, it’s robust AML monitoring for high-volume clients.
“Automation requires a strong ability to historically trace what was done in the past, so a system with proper record-keeping and auditing is key,” he added.
Navigating a regulatory minefield
In 2024, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) tightened rules on cryptocurrency laundering, while the UK rolled out new sanctions regimes. The U.S. also advanced its regulatory stance with the FinCEN RIA Rule Change, expanding anti-money laundering obligations to investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers.
MCO’s Know Your Obligations suite is designed to keep firms ahead of the curve. “MCO’s Know Your Obligations suite provides a regulatory compliance monitoring solution enabling firms to assess obligations and share requirements across the organisation, implement policies and controls, monitor and surveil for adherence to policy, measure risk and easily provide proof of compliance via one platform,” Fahey said.
This adaptability stems from MCO’s hefty investment in R&D, with a significant portion of revenue funnelled into innovation annually.
“We ensure our features meet the needs of our clients and of changing regulations,” Fahey emphasised.
“The close relationships that we build with our customers provide unique insight into how the platform can be continually updated and enhanced to best meet the needs of the market. MCO invests a significant level of revenue into R&D year over year. We will continue this investment in innovation as a company standard to keep pace with rapid regulatory developments.”
MCO also fosters thought leadership through client engagement.
Continuous monitoring for persistent threats
Financial crime doesn’t stop at onboarding, as post-onboarding risks – like changes in client behaviour or new regulatory flags – require vigilant monitoring.
MCO’s platform excels here, offering continuous screening and automated risk recalculations. This is essential as firms struggle deeply with ongoing monitoring, exposing them to sanctions risks.
MCO’s integrated approach ensures no risk can go unnoticed. By recalculating risk scores in response to trigger events, the platform keeps compliance dynamic.
This is particularly crucial as financial crime grows more sophisticated, with AI-driven fraud and decentralised finance posing new threats.
Balancing compliance with customer experience
Strict compliance can clash with customer expectations for speed and simplicity. The majority of financial services clients expect fast onboarding, yet rigorous KYC/AML checks often slow things down.
MCO strikes a balance by minimising client burden. “Our platform enables firms to automatically populate data from upstream systems, or from our Entity Data Master so we don’t have to request it from clients,” Fahey said.
“Where we do need more information from clients, we can use simple digital outreach.” This efficiency speeds up onboarding without compromising standards.
“An efficient process means that clients can get up and running quickly, and the value-add activities can start,” he added. “At the end of the day, customers are there for a service, so onboarding needs to be as efficient as possible while maintaining compliance standards.”
This customer-centric approach sets MCO apart. By integrating data and automating processes, the platform ensures clients experience seamless service while firms meet regulatory demands.
This balance is evident in MCO’s client engagement. By listening to feedback and collaborating on new features, MCO ensures its platform evolves with the market.
The future of financial crime defence
As financial crime evolves, integrated compliance solutions like MCO’s are leading the charge.
By unifying data, automating processes, and anticipating regulatory shifts, MCO empowers financial institutions to fight financial crime without sacrificing efficiency or customer experience.
Fahey’s vision is clear; integration and a single platform approach is not just a tool, it’s the future. “We ensure our features meet the needs of our clients and of changing regulations,” he said.
With its relentless focus on innovation and client collaboration, MCO is not just keeping pace, it’s setting the standard in the fight against financial crime.
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