Why the CAFC's Global AML & Sanctions Symposium Was the Best I’ve Attended in 20+ Years

Robert L. Williams III fighting financial crime with the help of AI.

I feel the need to begin by stating that, in my illustrious AFC career spanning over twenty years, the NYC Global AML & Sanctions Symposium hosted by the Coalition Against Financial Crime was hands down the most outstanding session I have ever attended! The reasons for giving it such high marks begin with the expert organizational skills of CAFC Chairman, Mr. John Calderon (pictured below kneeling in front of the ChatGPT robot).

To start off, the symposium would not have even gotten off the ground without John C. Calderon and the entire Coalition team for organizing such a timely and impactful event, where I made meaningful connections throughout the day. (My only complaint was during lunch, when I had to wait for the roasted cauliflower trays to be replenished.)

With an agenda focused on geopolitical risk, sanctions evasion typologies, cross-border enforcement, and emerging AML threats, the symposium brought together regulators, financial institutions, and compliance innovators at a critical juncture for the industry.

The keynote presentation was titled “AML Risk Exposure During Rising Global Tensions and Under New National Priorities” (The title says it all, folks!) and was delivered by Joshua Fruth (U.S. Army Intelligence Officer)—simply the most informative and engaging presenter/speaker I have ever witnessed.

Joshua Fruth's keynote introduced the “Five H’s”: Heat, Helpers, Heaters, Hindrances, and Hunters. He explained that AML investigators are the Hunters in a given investigation—a very interesting perspective to remember!

Beyond offering attendees the opportunity to photograph his spectacular slide presentation, Joshua also shared something I had never heard before in over two decades in the AFC space: money laundering actually involves five steps, not just the traditional Placement, Layering, and Integration I learned during my CAMS certification.

The updated steps are:

1. Revenue Generation

2. Placement

3. Layering

4. Integration and Backstory

5. Use of Ill-Gotten Gains and Sustainment

   
   

Again, he was the most informative and engaging speaker I have ever had the pleasure to witness! After the keynote by Joshua Fruth, the Global AML & Sanctions Symposium featured four sessions:

1. The New Face of AML & Sanctions

2. U.S. Enforcement Priorities Panel

3. Transforming AML with AI and Data

4. The Future of Crypto Compliance

   
   

Key themes that sparked rich dialogue included:

• The evolving role of AI in sanctions screening

• Multi-jurisdictional regulatory coordination

• Model validation and tuning in complex risk environments

• Building more agile, data-driven compliance frameworks

Without rehashing every panel, I’ll focus on Panel #2: U.S. Enforcement Priorities which was my favorite in particular. Moderated expertly by Ingo Steinhauser (Senior Risk and Fraud Specialist at Thomson Reuters), the panel featured notable experts such as:

• Joshua Fruth (U.S. Army Intelligence Officer and former Head of Counter Threat Finance, NATO Special Operations)

• Leo McCormick (Bank Examiner, OCC)

• Dr. Donna Broussard (Retired U.S. Army Colonel and former Inspector General)

• Jonathan Sullivan (Retired Senior Special Agent, DEA)

This panel discussed important concepts like “Black Swan” events (rare, high-impact, unpredictable) and Occam’s Razor (the simplest explanation is often the best). Stored value, property purchases, and tracking fund destinations were emphasized as key AML focus areas. Panelists also stressed that training is essential for first-line defense in every institution. A powerful quote from this session: “You cannot detect what you cannot identify.”

This panel also stressed the need for adherence to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) governed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. These sessions highlighted the importance of screening names against lists such as the Denied Persons List (DPL). The DPL, maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), identifies individuals and entities denied export privileges due to violations of export control laws and regulations.

In my most recent full-time role, I was the backup for anti-boycott rules and regulations. I was responsible for screening and dispositioning whether a specific Trade Finance transaction was “permissible” or “non-permissible” and required reporting to the Department of Commerce. You may think OFAC is complex, but with Trade Finance and EAR regulations, even a misplaced comma in payment instructions could determine permissibility.

In summary—I cannot wait for the next symposium. I want to offer kudos once again to John Calderon, Joshua Fruth, and the CAFC team for delivering such a spectacular session. I believe the attendee size—around 100 people—was a key factor. I’ve attended and presented at ACAMS conferences with thousands of attendees, but honestly, has anyone ever truly walked away from those with a clear, impactful takeaway? This one was different. This one mattered.

Meet The Author

Robert L. Williams III

With over 20 years of experience in anti-financial crime compliance, Robert has held senior roles at three major foreign financial institutions and specializes in AML, sanctions, KYC, anti-terrorist financing, anti-bribery, and export regulation compliance. A lifelong learner and early adopter of emerging technologies, he has expanded his expertise into blockchain investigations, AI, and digital assets, holding a Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator (CCI) designation and currently pursuing the Certified Crypto-Asset Regulation & Policy Specialist (CCRPS) credential. His technical skills span industry-leading tools such as Actimize, Firco, Palantir, SAS, and SQL, and he maintains a strong working knowledge of U.S. and global regulatory frameworks including OFAC, FinCEN, FATF, and EU AML directives.