ACAMS Hollywood 2025: Key Takeaways for Future-Ready Financial Crime Compliance

The Silent Eight team was thrilled to take part in this year’s ACAMS Assembly Hollywood, where forward-thinking financial crime compliance professionals came together to take on everything from sanctions compliance and correspondent banking risks to crypto-related money laundering and organized crime. 

After two days of presentations, conversations and connections at the event, here are the main takeaways our team identified about where financial crime compliance is headed.

AI is Now Mainstream Among the FCC Community

The financial crime compliance community has been exploring machine learning technologies for years, but it was clear at ACAMS Hollywood 2025 just how much knowledge of AI and machine learning the community has gained and how much interest has grown since last year’s event. 

From leadership panels to the conversations during breakout sessions, there was broad recognition that artificial intelligence is not a futuristic concept but a current necessity. Our team was inspired to see the industry's growing confidence in how AI can empower teams, mitigate risk, and support smarter decision-making and we were favorably impressed by the quality of the questions we received about AI models deployed for financial crime compliance.

Volatile Geopolitics require urgent AFC preparedness

One of the most important themes raised at ACAMS was the need for accelerated preparedness in the face of today’s increasingly complex geopolitical environment. As ACAMS’s Craig Timm noted, the current moment demands more than incremental changes; it calls for immediate action in how institutions approach anti-financial crime efforts.

Key global dynamics to watch:

• U.S.-China tensions are evolving beyond trade, with tariffs now doubling as tools of national security and foreign policy.

• Iran sanctions underscore how deeply intertwined global issues have become. The US State Department wants Iran’s oil exports to drop to zero, but China is the buyer of 90% of those resources. The ultimate goal for the US Administration? Lessen Iran’s destabilizing influence in the region.

• The ripple effects of these dynamics introduce a wide range of uncertain outcomes, and financial institutions must ask if they are prepared for this level and these types of risk.

AI is here to support – not replace – compliance professionals

As AI adoption in compliance teams accelerates, one thing is clear: this is not about replacing humans. As discussed during the panel “Building and Managing Next Gen Compliance Teams,” where our own Patrick Kirwin participated alongside Sandra Behar and Tyler Reynolds, AI is best viewed as a force multiplier - empowering humans, not taking the place of human judgement.

Key insights:

• AI frees up teams to focus on the work that matters: complex investigations, risk decisions, and strategic thinking.

• Automation can boost job satisfaction, reducing the mental drain of repetitive tasks.

• The most successful deployments take a human-centric approach, leveraging machines for data processing while people focus on judgment and nuance.

Compliance teams must level up their technical skills

As AI becomes more embedded, there’s a growing premium on analytical and technical proficiency - not just for engineers, but across the compliance spectrum.

• Investigators, risk owners, and even executives benefit from understanding how AI works and how to use it.

• Organizations that upskill their teams will be more adaptable, more innovative, and better positioned for the future.

Sanctions and tariffs are expanding tools of statecraft

A standout session with Michael Cass-Antony from the U.S. Department of State underscored just how much financial institutions are now central players in enforcing foreign policy.

• Sanctions use has increased 1,000-fold over the past decade.

• Tariffs are increasingly being used alongside sanctions to advance U.S. national security goals.

And Banks may soon be expected to play a larger role in enforcing tariffs

A key question raised during the event: Will U.S. banks be responsible for enforcing new trade tariffs? According to the US State Department, future guidance is coming, but financial institutions should expect an increased role in trade compliance.

This underscores a broader message to the industry: the scope of compliance responsibilities is expanding. Proactivity, investment in systems, and strategic readiness are now more critical than ever.

Final Thoughts

The conversations at ACAMS Assembly Hollywood confirmed what we at Silent Eight see every day: the world is changing fast, and the leaders in financial crime compliance are those who proactively prepare for that change. With AI as an enabler, and geopolitical risk at the forefront, there has never been a more urgent time to innovate, adapt, and invest in future-ready teams.