The Californer - The AML Shop Launches New Financial Investigations Unit, Appoints Director to Lead the Initiative

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TORONTO - Californer -- Today, The AML Shop announces the creation of a centralized Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), a strategic initiative aimed at strengthening the fight against financial crime and enhancing support for its anti-money laundering (AML) clients.

The FIU brings together Canada's elite tactical and strategic intelligence professionals, organized by area of specialization, and empowers them with efficient processes, robust quality controls, secure information-sharing protocols, advanced data sources, sophisticated investigative tools and targeted training.

Money laundering (ML), terrorist financing (TF), and sanctions evasion (SE) compromise the integrity of Canada's financial system and the safety and security of all Canadians. Criminals are increasingly using accessible artificial intelligence tools, decentralized networks, and professional enablers to conceal the proceeds from crimes such as fraud and fentanyl trafficking.

More than 24,000 Canadian businesses, including banks, fintechs, and credit unions, have a legislated responsibility to understand, assess, and respond to these evolving threats. The AML Shop supports these businesses through expert-led managed services, leveraging a combination of technology and skilled intelligence analysts to detect, investigate, and prevent illicit financial transactions.

The AML Shop is exceptionally pleased to announce that the new FIU will be led by veteran financial crime fighter Deanna Milne as its Director. She will be supported by Mark Ambrose, Principal, The AML Shop.

"We are thrilled for Deanna to join us as the Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit to support this groundbreaking, new department. Her expertise in leading operational risk teams in large financial institutions and neo-banks, and proven strategic leadership in complex regulatory matters, will help fulfill our mission of significantly upgrading services and skills and technology to help our clients better detect, prevent and deter money laundering and terrorist financing activities; ultimately with the goal of reducing their regulatory, legal and financial risk. Welcome to the team Deanna!" - Mark Ambrose, Principal, The AML Shop.

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"As the Director of our newly launched Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), I'm thrilled to help bring this bold new vision to life! The FIU is a fresh, forward-thinking initiative designed to level up how we tackle financial crime risk, intelligence-led monitoring, and regulatory readiness. We're setting the stage to become the go-to hub for sharp, high-quality investigations; the kind that make waves and raise the bar. As the first unit of its kind at The AML Shop, the FIU will be at the heart of innovation, collaboration, and smart compliance across the organization." - Deanna Milne, Director, Financial Intelligence Unit, The AML Shop.

The FIU will support The AML Shop's managed services and outsourced clients to better identify reportable transactions and assess their exposure to ML/TF/SE risks. Staffed with subject matter experts and supported by streamlined processes, advanced technology, and new opportunities for data sharing in a regulatory-compliant framework, the unit offers a coordinated approach to complex financial crime challenges. The team will also focus on assisting clients in understanding and fulfilling their sanctions obligations, helping to mitigate the risk of enforcement actions, including penalties issued by the AML regulator, FINTRAC.

The FIU's functions will include The AML Shop's Managed Enhanced Due Diligence (MEDD) for Higher Risk Entities program to help financial institutions vet and monitor their higher-risk entities in efforts to mitigate the risks they can pose.

To execute on this mandate, the FIU will draw on the expertise of top-tier AML professionals, supported by best-in-class, up-to-date training, curated and administered by The AML Shop's Centre of Excellence.

This pioneering announcement comes at the helm of the expansion and success of The AML Shop's evolution in the AML, counter-terrorism financing, sanctions compliance, and risk management space. Since The AML Shop's inception in 2016, the firm has served hundreds of clients across Canada and abroad and expanded its team to more than 80 AML professionals, rapidly becoming Canada's leading business solution for financial crime risk management.

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"We are elated to expand our offerings by announcing our new FIU and Deanna's appointment. Deanna has remarkable experience in translating complex regulatory frameworks into practical, scalable solutions and is the perfect fit in this next phase of evolution for The AML Shop. We are super excited for Deanna and her team to execute this forward-thinking, unified intelligence hub that's both bold and built to last, delivering unparalleled services to our clients". - Monika Cywinska, Principal and Managing Director, The AML Shop.

About The AML Shop:

Our team of veteran compliance executives empower businesses with the most practical, informed, and strategic regulatory support services. Our goals are to help our clients manage their risks, maximize their opportunities, and achieve and maintain compliance.

We are Canada's leading source for AML compliance solutions, serving clients right across the country, serving businesses across all sectors, and offering the widest breadth of AML and compliance services in the country.

We Help Keep FINTRAC Happy.

Learn more about The AML Shop:

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