Latest news with #Fenergo
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish companies are making waves in the global fintech space
Ireland is cementing its status as a strategic hub for global financial technology innovation, with home-grown companies such as Stripe, Fenergo and TransferMate leading the way. As financial services evolve at lightning speed, the Republic has quietly become one of the world's most influential fintech hubs. From payment infrastructure to compliance automation, Irish-founded companies are building the financial tools that power global commerce. Financial technology – or fintech – is the use of innovative technology to transform financial services, from payments and lending to compliance and wealth management. 'It helps blend financial expertise with digital agility to deliver faster, more accessible, and more customer-centric services,' says Fidelma Clarke, partner and payments sector lead for EY Financial Services Ireland The State's fintech ecosystem is thriving for three main reasons, says Clarke: it has a globally connected financial sector, a tech-literate workforce and a progressive regulatory environment. 'It's home to more than 250 indigenous fintech companies and is the European base for big global players such as Stripe, Square, MasterCard and PayPal. Fidelma Clarke Partner and Payments Sector Lead for EY Financial Services Ireland. 'In addition, Ireland's Common Law framework and EU market access make it a strategic choice for firms scaling across Europe. The Central Bank of Ireland has also increased its fintech-specific supervisory engagement, most recently through the Innovation Hub initiative.' Clarke says several Irish fintechs have emerged as global players, including Stripe, cofounded by Patrick and John Collison. It is now valued at $65 billion and operates in more than 40 countries, offering payments infrastructure for businesses of all sizes. Fenergo, meanwhile, is a Dublin-based regtech firm that counts BNP Paribas, Santander and ANZ among its clients and supports more than 80 global financial institutions; TransferMate, headquartered in Kilkenny, facilitates cross-border payments in more than 160 countries and partners with firms such as SAP Concur, Wells Fargo, and Allianz; and Global Shares, a Cork-based equity management platform, was acquired by JP Morgan in 2022, signalling strong global demand for its solutions. 'Alongside Ireland-born fintechs, global players like Revolut have also chosen Ireland as a strategic base, reinforcing the country's status as a gateway to the EU fintech market.' The success of these firms stems from their having identified critical industry pain points – from fragmented compliance processes to inefficient cross-border transfers – and built scalable, enterprise-grade technology to solve them, says Clarke. 'For example, Fenergo co-created its platform with a consortium of banks to ensure immediate fit-for-purpose adoption. TransferMate built a proprietary global payments network, bypassing traditional banking rails. Stripe became the 'developer-first' solution for online commerce – now used by Amazon, Shopify, and Salesforce. 'Their success stems from building trusted infrastructure in developing customer-facing products.' The Republic's fintech sector isn't just driven by individual successes; its strength lies in its ecosystem, says Clarke. 'Cross-sector collaboration has been key: initiatives such as the Grand Canal Innovation District, the Fintech Corridor (linking Dublin and Belfast) and Dogpatch Labs' NDRC accelerator have helped create a thriving pipeline of early-stage innovation,' she says. 'Policy alignment is also encouraging, as both ECB president [Christine] Lagarde and European Commission president [Ursula] von der Leyen have called for a targeted, risk-based simplification of EU regulation to support innovation. This presents a leadership opportunity for Ireland to champion innovation while preserving trust and market integrity.' This opportunity has been recognised by Irish governments, with digital finance included as a key theme in the first Finance Strategy Action Plan in 2018, in 2023 and in the most recent Action Plan for 2024, which contained a commitment to assessing the merits and feasibility of establishing a National Fintech Hub, Clarke adds. We are seeing Ireland's fintech leaders moving up the value chain and making an increasing impact on the shape of the financial services sector, she says. 'Crucially, these firms are not just solving for today, they're anticipating the next evolution of financial infrastructure, from tokenisation to cross-border regulatory convergence. 'Stripe is investing in embedded lending, identity services and AI-powered fraud prevention. TransferMate is expanding into treasury services and integrating with ERP platforms like Oracle NetSuite. Fenergo is applying AI to automate anti-money laundering and client onboarding workflows.'
Finextra
28-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Fenergo launches FinCrime operating system with agentic AI layer
Fenergo has today launched its FinCrime Operating System (OS), an evolution of its existing solutions to become the single unifying platform across the Client Lifecycle. 0 It leverages trusted Agentic AI to empower financial institutions to overcome spiraling operational costs and rising compliance demands enhanced by geopolitical tension and regulatory flux. Fenergo FinCrime OS, powered by an Agentic AI layer, unifies all client lifecycle events -onboarding, KYC, screening, identity and verification (ID&V) and transaction monitoring - on a single platform. The initial six autonomous AI agents execute tasks quickly, accurately, and with full auditability. These agents enable firms to automate tasks, gain real-time insights, and maintain full control and governance. Fenergo's FinCrime OS enhances client experiences with a seamless, digital-first approach to onboarding and KYC reviews, and smooth transaction monitoring alert workflows, while reducing operational costs by automating tasks, saving up to 93%. The FinCrime OS' Command Center strengthens risk mitigation through AI-driven insights, enabling better policy operationalization and minimizing regulatory risks. Built in line with global AI acts and regulatory guidelines, Fenergo's Agentic AI ensures sound governance with transparent actions, fostering trust and control. Unprecedented periodic review efficiencies Fenergo's initial six AI agents streamline periodic KYC reviews by autonomously handling tasks like data reconciliation, document classification, and risk screening. This reduces manual effort and backlog, enabling proactive, intelligent workflows and allowing compliance teams to focus on high-risk exceptions. Reducing periodic review timeframes by up to *45%, FinCrime OS not only ensures regulatory adherence but also drives operational efficiency and improved client experiences.* *Estimation of time saved on a straight-through processed (STP) periodic review for a low-risk client. The Six AI Agents available today include: 1. Data Sourcing Agent - Sources data from one or more third-party data provider, compares against entity data and auto-completes tasks 2. Screening Agent - Runs screening checks against third-party integrations, auto-resolves hits and returns results to providers 3. Document Agent - Extracts, classifies and links documents using AI to automate document-management processes 4. Significance Agent - Performs a check against data changes to determine significance to define next action 5. Autocompletion Agent - Automates the completion of tasks based on pre-defined rules, policy and configured guardrails 6. Insights Agent - Fenergo's co-pilot, allowing users to interact with all operational, policy and entity data through natural language and harness real-time insights on process efficiency, operations and risk. Command Center bolsters governance and streamlines KYC reviews Built into the FinCrime OS, the Command Center is a role-based daily landing page. It delivers personalized, real-time dashboards and data analytics, allowing users to observe all agent activity and maintain complete governance and control over entity data in line with global AI regulations. The Command Center also interacts with Fenergo's co-pilot for delivering insights and task and journey progress tracking. Marc Murphy, CEO, Fenergo, commented: 'Across the financial services industry compliance has become increasingly complex, costly and unsustainable. Fenergo's vision is to drive unprecedented change by transforming compliance from a reactive cost-center into a strategic competitive advantage. By re-imagining client lifecycle management through the lens of financial crime operations with intelligence and automation at its core, Fenergo's FinCrime OS will ultimately empower financial institutions to handle more clients, with fewer errors while streamlining operations. Compliance as a strategic engine for growth is our north star and FinCrime OS is a leap forward in realizing that vision.' Keith Redmond, Chief Product Officer at Fenergo, said: 'Our mission is to evolve Fenergo's CLM solution into an active, intelligent solution that empowers users to focus on the most critical business tasks. This is where agentic AI will be a game changer, allowing for faster onboarding, fewer manual errors and lower compliance risks. We are thrilled to be leading innovation through our FinCrime OS.' *estimation of time saved on a straight-through processed (STP) periodic review for a low-risk client.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Emerging Risks in Energy Trading, and Best Practices for Navigating Them
The energy market is the newest frontier for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance risk. This sector is highly complex; it is dynamic, volatile, and under mounting regulatory pressures. With billions of dollars flowing through the energy industry daily, firms often operate across multiple jurisdictions, engaging in cross-border transactions with a vast network of clients, suppliers and partners. These global operations create heightened exposure to illicit financial activities, including sanctioned entities, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and high-risk intermediaries. Now more than ever, energy firms must implement more sophisticated AML and KYC controls to safeguard their operations, mitigate compliance risk, and avoid being the target of regulatory scrutiny. COMMENTARY Until recently, regulators have primarily focused on the financial services industry for sanctions evasion, KYC, and AML non-compliance. Enforcement actions and fines reaching hundreds of millions to even billions of dollars have become routine for financial institutions. Historically, the energy sector remained largely outside the regulatory spotlight. However, as financial criminals increasingly exploit energy trading firms for money laundering through shell companies and opaque transactions, regulatory scrutiny has intensified. Authorities are now actively investigating and penalizing illicit activities within the sector. Early in February, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an international network for facilitating the shipment of millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to the People's Republic of China, signaling a tougher stance on financial crime in energy trading. [caption id="attachment_230364" align="alignleft" width="233"] Tracy Moore[/caption] The energy industry is starting to catch wind of the turning tides. As the energy and commodities sectors become increasingly complex, with stricter regulations and multi-layered transactions, energy firms are recognizing the importance of robust KYC and AML capabilities. According to Fenergo's KYC & Onboarding Trends in Energy & Commodities 2024 research report, more than 78% of respondents agreed that the burden of managing and analyzing counterparty data significantly impact their ability to meet sanctions obligations. This aligns with the increasing need for energy companies, particularly those operating in oil and gas, to adhere to complex sanctions regulations and prevent inadvertent dealings with restricted entities. Additionally, almost 70% of respondents indicated that inefficient onboarding processes have directly led to lost trading opportunities, underscoring the critical need for fast, seamless integration of counterparties into business networks. Energy firms are starting to see gaps in their capabilities to marshal this activity. But the challenges that face them seem to get more complex by the day. The world is becoming increasingly volatile. The Russia-Ukraine war is now entering its third year while conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate. Meanwhile, a new U.S. administration is driving shifts in trade policy with new sanctions and tariffs being rapidly introduced. Energy firms face a heightened risk of inadvertently violating sanctions due to the complexity and difficulty of keeping abreast of rapidly evolving rules, especially in regions with high geo-political uncertainty. The energy industry is global in nature. Energy trading often involves multiple parties with multiple regulatory jurisdictions and frameworks. This can lead to regulatory arbitrage, where bad actors exploit differences in laws to launder money. The complexity increases with the involvement of shell companies or intermediaries in high-risk jurisdictions. Oil and gas payments can be disguised through complex supply chains, intermediaries, and offshore trading hubs. Tracing the origin of funds through a web of global intermediaries and parties is similar to navigating a maze, blindfolded. These highly complex and opaque supply chains make it incredibly difficult to identify high-risk counterparties and ensure ethical sourcing. The energy industry has been known to be slow to adopt new technologies. Manual, paper based-processes, legacy systems and data silos in energy trading make it difficult to implement effective KYC processes. Poor data quality and outdated technology only perpetuate onboarding inefficiencies and compliance gaps. Additionally, the shift toward digital platforms in energy introduces new avenues for money laundering. Inherently, the global reach of energy firms is vast, and firms rely on digital platforms to streamline trading processes, complete transactions, and reduce costs. The advantages of operational efficiency are numerous. Nevertheless, a significant risk must also be acknowledged. By relying heavily on digital platforms, without proper AML and KYC guardrails in place, it becomes easier for criminals to move illicit funds through accounts globally, further complicating the AML challenges compliance teams need to navigate. On the flip side, while technology can enable illicit activity, it can also be a powerful tool in combat it. Firms must adopt technology to help them effectively manage counterparty and supply chain risk, to avoid significant fines and reputational damage. The right technology solution can not only ensure compliance but also deliver efficiencies when it comes to counterparty onboarding and ongoing risk monitoring. Firms will ultimately benefit from adopting such technology through greater risk management and quicker time to onboard, providing an enhanced counterparty experience—all of which is limited without technology. Ultimately, technology can reenergize traditional, manual processes and provide an antidote to AML and KYC challenges for energy firms. Digital platforms offer a standardization of the request submission operations that feed into KYC workflows, ensuring speed but also removing the bottleneck of manual processes. Additionally, tools can present more visibility to internal teams by connecting the front and middle offices, meaning that traders and operations teams are aligned on request statuses, which can then effectively be communicated to counterparties. This helps deliver on the counterparty expectation of speed and provides firms with a tool to help fight against financial crime and stay out of regulators' agenda, supporting in building trust and driving business growth. For energy firms looking to gain efficiencies, artificial intelligence (AI) is a topic that is taking center stage. AI is commonly viewed as a tool for trading execution and algorithmic trading, but its benefits also extend to AML and KYC processes. Not only does it offer better fraud detection measures, enhanced due diligence, and streamlined onboarding, but it also provides scalability. Firms can take in large quantities of data without burdening the compliance teams. Moreover, the ability to offer better illicit finance detection allows teams to use their time for more strategic and personalized investor relations insights, cross-selling, and beyond. The energy trading landscape is constantly evolving, with new risks emerging on a daily basis. As it becomes more intertwined with global finance, the risks of sanctions and AML and KYC non-compliance grow. However, by adopting a proactive approach, leveraging cutting-edge technology, and fostering a culture of compliance, firms can not only mitigate these risks but also transform regulatory adherence into a strategic advantage. AML and KYC can no longer be treated as a mere check-the-box activity. Energy firms must critically assess existing compliance frameworks, strengthen their risk management capabilities, and invest in technology to stay ahead of evolving threats. Those that take compliance seriously today will be better positioned to navigate the complexities of tomorrow. —Tracy Moore is Director of Thought Leadership at Fenergo. Sign in to access your portfolio
