Secretariat’s Financial Crimes Compliance solutions empower organizations to respond to today’s complex regulatory demands, backed by our global team with deep insight, forensic expertise, and cross-border experience.  We deliver integrated investigative and enforcement services that enable our clients to:

• Manage anti-money laundering (AML), bribery & corruption, international trade, sanctions, terrorist financing, and other financial fraud risks through tailored, risk-based solutions aligned with global regulatory standards; and
• Expertly investigate allegations of wrongdoing and support our clients in any ensuing criminal or regulatory enforcement actions.

We are not a provider of check-the-box, commoditized financial crimes investigative and compliance services. Instead, we combine intellectual rigor, advanced analytics, and industry best practices to build risk assessment and compliance frameworks that are practical, defensible, and adaptable. From strategic advisory to targeted reviews of internal controls, we support clients in embedding financial crimes compliance into their governance structures, helping them respond to investigations and enforcement actions, and to build sustainable risk assessment and compliance programs.

When allegations of wrongdoing arise, our team brings industry-leading expertise and analytical tools – in areas including forensic accounting, fraud assessment, advanced data analytics, global intelligence gathering, valuation services, financial regulatory compliance, and corporate governance – to support our clients and their counsel in uncovering facts and engaging with regulators and other counterparties.

Our comprehensive financial crimes compliance services include:

• Anti-Money Laundering Investigations and Regulatory Compliance: Know-Your-Customer and Enhanced Due Diligence
• Anti-Money Laundering Investigations and Regulatory Compliance: Transaction Monitoring and Suspicious Activity Reporting
• Anti-Bribery and Corruption
• Financial Crime Risk Assessments and Investigations
• International Trade and Sanctions

Anti-Money Laundering and Regulatory Compliance

Organizations facing rising pressure to meet evolving global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements often struggle with legacy transaction monitoring systems, compliance backlogs, and often unclear regulatory expectations resulting in operational inefficiencies, enforcement risks, and reputational exposure.

We build robust, risk-based AML frameworks that align with both domestic regulations and international standards.  We are a highly qualified provider of investigative and litigation support services when AML-related disputes arise.

We support clients with:

• Enhancement of Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing policies, procedures, and governance frameworks
• Independent compliance reviews, gap analysis, and control testing
• End-to-end risk remediation planning and execution
• Transaction monitoring system evaluation and optimization
• Targeted AML training and awareness programs
• Comprehensive investigative and litigation support in all these areas

KYC and Enhanced Due Diligence Services

Weak onboarding controls, fragmented due diligence processes, and insufficient screening practices expose institutions to compliance failures and high-risk counterparties. We enhance Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) frameworks with scalable, risk-based controls, from onboarding to periodic review. For higher-risk exposures, we deliver tailored Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) solutions that meet regulatory scrutiny and reduce third-party risk.

Our services include: (i) design and optimization of onboarding and customer classification models; (ii) customer Due Diligence/Enhanced Due Diligence protocols for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), complex entities, and high-risk geographies; (iii) ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) mapping; (iv) Source of Wealth (SOW) and Source of Funds (SOF) analysis; (v) sanctions and Politically Exposed Persons screening review and escalation protocols; and (vi) operational support for backlog remediation, KYC file reviews, and refresh cycles.

Transaction Monitoring and Suspicious Activity Reporting Services

Institutions struggle to manage high false positives in transaction monitoring, leading to alert fatigue and inconsistent investigative standards, which in turn result in delayed or missed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and increased compliance risk. We strengthen end-to-end monitoring workflows, improving alert triage, investigation quality, and SAR decision-making. We also lead retrospective lookbacks to identify past gaps and support remediation efforts.

Our services include:  (i) alert investigation support and SAR drafting; (ii) review and tuning of transaction monitoring systems; (iii) retrospective lookbacks and thematic reviews; (iv) escalation procedures, workflow design, and documentation standards; and (v) temporary surge support during periods of increased transaction volume.

Anti-Bribery and Corruption

Heightened global scrutiny around bribery and corruption poses significant legal, financial, and reputational risks for multinational companies, particularly in high-risk jurisdictions and in transactions involving third-party agents or facilitators.

Our highly qualified multidisciplinary team has decades of experience conducting discreet, comprehensive, and defensible investigations into allegations of bribery and corruption, leveraging our forensic accounting, ERP systems, data analytics, eDiscovery, and global cross-border expertise.

We also support clients in preventing misconduct through targeted Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC) risk assessments and compliance program enhancement.  Our professionals also have many years of experience supporting independent monitors in FCPA prosecutions, and in advising companies during a monitorship.

We support clients with:

• Preeminent expertise in conducting complex ABC investigations, regardless of industry, locations, or nature of the alleged fraud
• ABC risk assessments tailored to industry, geography, and levels of exposure
• Investigations into whistleblower allegations, internal misconduct, and third-party violations
• Framework enhancements aligned to FCPA, UK Bribery Act, and other global standards
• Support during settlements, regulatory monitorships, or board-mandated independent reviews
• Remediation plans, training delivery, and testing of internal controls in high-risk payment categories

Financial Crime Risk Assessments

Organizations often lack a clear view of their financial crimes risk exposure across geographies, customer segments, and products and channels, causing regulatory exposure and possibly enforcement actions or criminal prosecutions, and resultant reputational damage.

We conduct targeted and enterprise-wide financial crime risk assessments that evaluate inherent and residual risks and the efficacy of current controls to raise red flags when potential misconduct is occurring. Our data-driven, judgment-informed approach helps organizations prioritize resources, strengthen controls, and meet evolving expectations of regulators worldwide.

We support clients with:

• Assessments across Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing, ABC, sanctions, fraud, and jurisdictional risks
• Structured scoring models, heatmaps, and risk dashboards
• Framework evaluations and control gap analysis
• Development of Key Risk Indicators and data governance structures
• Co-designed remediation roadmaps and action plans

Key Experts