Building a Global Compliance Roadmap: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Key takeaways
A global compliance framework protects fintech companies, banks, and exchanges against the continuous increase in international financial regulations.
New European directives like AMLD6 and MiCA heighten the need to implement robust KYC and AML programs based on automated technology.
Building a specialized team with defined roles and ongoing training is crucial to adapt to constant regulatory changes.
Compliance tools like AML Screening and continuous monitoring help identify risks in real-time, preventing multi-million dollar fines and reputational damage.
Regulatory compliance has become a critical factor for companies operating in increasingly globalized environments. With rising regulatory pressure in Europe and other key markets, building a robust global compliance framework isn't just an option—it's a necessity.
To put things in perspective, over 800 new financial regulations were introduced in 2023 alone. Is it feasible for obligated entities to comply with all of these without a global, flexible, and scalable plan that grows alongside the business?
Non-compliance isn't an option. "If you don't prevent, you're potentially complicit in money laundering," as Luis Rodríguez Soler, CEO of ComplianZen, stated in a recent interview for our newsletter. Moreover, penalties for failing to comply with AML (Anti-Money Laundering) regulations have reached billions of dollars in recent years. Your business reputation and sustainability are also at stake.
In this article, we'll explore the key stages for designing, implementing, and scaling a compliance plan capable of adapting to future regulatory changes while supporting your organization's growth. If you're part of a compliance team at a fintech, bank, or centralized crypto exchange, this is for you!
The International Regulatory Landscape in 2025
The starting point for designing a global compliance roadmap is understanding the context of the main laws and regulations impacting your industry. Think of it as knowing the rules of the game before you start playing.
Key regulatory bodies and frameworks you need to consider include:
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body focused on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. This Paris-based organization establishes international standards to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society. The FATF has developed a non-binding framework based on 40 recommendations, which serves as a starting point for many legislators. These recommendations have been recently updated.
- The European Union has introduced new regulations, such as AMLD5 and AMLD6 (soon to come into force), along with other regulations related to data protection (GDPR) and digital identity (eIDAS 2). Additionally, other regulations like MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) have come into effect to regulate cryptocurrency markets, reinforcing the need for robust KYC and AML plans.
- In the United States, laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and the USA PATRIOT Act require financial institutions to exercise high degrees of customer due diligence and report any transactions they consider suspicious. Penalties for non-compliance have increased significantly in recent years.
- Other regions: Countries like the United Kingdom, following Brexit, have their own regulations (known as Money Laundering Regulations), although they maintain international cooperation with various organizations. In other areas, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, AML/CFT regulations have been strengthened to align with FATF recommendations.
How to Build a Global Compliance Framework
Once we understand the regulations we need to follow, it's time to start developing the compliance plan. Here we'll address key aspects such as risk assessment, structuring the compliance team, and selecting and implementing technological solutions.
Step 1. Structuring a Compliance Team
You might need to build a compliance team for your company from scratch, or perhaps you're already leading one as the head of compliance. Either way, you'll need to form a team and clearly distribute responsibilities.
- Roles and Responsibilities.
- Chief Compliance Officer (COO). Defines strategies and oversees execution.
- Head of AML. Coordinates anti-money laundering policies.
- KYC Analyst or AML Analyst. Manages user identity verification (KYC), handling manual processes as required.
- Cross-functional Collaboration. Our interviewees' experience suggests that it's important for the compliance department to align with all other stakeholders in the company to harmonize objectives, goals, and needs.
- Continuous Training. Regulatory updates are constant. It's essential to establish a training plan for the team and for those areas that, while not directly related to compliance, must adhere to certain regulations. For example, Mateo Villa, KYC Analyst at one of the world's most important cryptocurrency exchanges, states that this continuous updating is part of his daily routine. You can read the full interview with Mateo Villa here.
Step 2. Risk Assessment and Scope
Risk profiles are fundamental, especially when dealing with a large user base. These allow you to evaluate the potential risks to which the organization is exposed.
- Identify key jurisdictions. Identify the countries where you operate, including customers, suppliers, and partners. Some regulations may overlap or even contradict each other. Therefore, it's crucial to have a clear inventory.
- Determine your risk profile. Are you a fintech offering financial services? Do you operate with cryptocurrencies? Are you involved with high-risk sectors, such as online betting houses or casinos? Each vertical or sector will have different requirements, different customer profiles, and therefore different risks (greater exposure to fraud or having customers appear on sanctions lists, for example).
- Scoring tools and methods. Implement risk dashboards that combine probability and impact. It's also advisable to implement recognized methodologies, such as ISO 31000 for risk management.
Step 3. Define Legal and Regulatory Requirements
The next step is to outline the legal requirements for each jurisdiction and regulation based on the sector in which we operate.
- Review of local and international regulations. It's important to understand the local laws and directives of the markets in which we will operate. For example, we should know what KYC and AML regulations apply in the US if we were operating in the country. Regarding the sector, it's essential to know the international recommendations of the FATF and the industry-specific regulations, such as those that apply to card payments (PCI-DSS) or information security regulations (ISO 27001).
- AML/CFT Compliance. Applying anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations is a priority and non-negotiable. For this, it's essential to have solid KYC (Know Your Customer) processes that allow verification of customers' real identities; and AML Screening, the review of watchlists, sanctions, or PEPs.
- Internal Policies. Once external requirements are known, it's essential to define the internal policies that will be applied throughout the organization. We're talking about:
- Due diligence protocols
- Preparation of action manuals for alerts (hits in AML Screening checks, whether initial or during daily continuous checks).
- Incorporating data protection measures.
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Step 4. Implement Technological Solutions
Now it's time to implement technological solutions that enable task automation and scale compliance processes. The automation of processes like KYC happens thanks to AI and becomes fundamental, especially when there is a high volume of users.
What benefits does process automation offer? We can primarily see two advantages: cost reduction, both human and financial, and optimization of the user experience.
KYC and AML Tools
- KYC: Ensure your tool covers aspects such as Document Verification; Face Match 1:1; biometrics and liveness detection to minimize the risk of impersonation.
- AML Screening: Verify in real-time global lists (including PEPs and international watchlists and sanctions).
- Ongoing AML Monitoring: These allow you to keep your customer due diligence current, detecting possible changes in risk profiles.
The Didit Case
At Didit, we offer the only free and unlimited KYC solution on the market, helping organizations of all sizes comply with AML/CFT regulations. How do we do it?
- Speed: Real-time verifications, completed in less than 30 seconds.
- Reliability: We have more than 10 AI models to combat fraud such as document forgery, deepfakes, or pre-recorded masks, among other aspects.
- Scalability without hidden costs: Reusable KYC, customization of onboarding flows, and configuration of risk thresholds according to the tolerance of each jurisdiction.
- AML Monitoring: We include premium features such as AML Screening or Ongoing AML Monitoring, to lay the foundations of any anti-money laundering prevention program.
- International compliance: ISO 27001 certification, GDPR compliance, and eIDAS 2 compatible.
Step 5. Continuous Monitoring and Auditing
Complying with regulations isn't just about implementing tools and letting them work automatically. To ensure the long-term effectiveness of any AML/CFT plan, permanent user supervision is needed. For this, continuous customer monitoring, transaction monitoring, and audits are essential.
- Ongoing AML Monitoring. Nearly 80% of fraud in institutions occurs after onboarding. With this premise, it's essential to understand that customer verification and checks cannot be done just once. Today, organizations like FATF recommend continuous monitoring to react to warning signs that may arise during the customer relationship.
- Transaction Monitoring. Risk profiles allow us to establish the basis for any suspicious activity. If a transaction occurs on the platform that doesn't match the customer's characteristics, we must act.
- Audits. Internal ones allow us to review procedures to detect possible breaches; external ones provide certifications that strengthen reputation and credibility with investors and regulators.
- Define KPIs. Know the rate of false positives and negatives, the average verification time, the cost per verification, or user satisfaction.
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Step 6. Scalability and Adaptation to Change
Scalability is critical in a constantly changing regulatory landscape. As we said at the beginning, a robust compliance program must be able to grow with the organization and adapt to new laws and requirements without becoming a burden.
For this, it's recommended to:
- Prepare for regulatory changes, always attentive to possible updates to international FATF regulations, the United States, and the main international regulators. Therefore, it's interesting to design modular procedures that can be quickly adjusted when new directives that apply to your sector appear.
- Understand new markets, in case you're planning a geographical expansion of your solution. Review if they have specific KYC/AML policies and make sure that the solutions you have integrated support document verification from different countries. For example, at Didit, we offer a global approach, with documentation from more than 220 countries and territories.
- Continuous improvement is key. Gather feedback from your employees and customers to refine processes.
Conclusion: A Robust Compliance Plan is Your Organization's Shield
Creating a global compliance framework isn't just about "complying with the law." It's about shielding your organization against sanctions, protecting its reputation, and establishing long-term trust relationships with customers, partners, and investors.
That's why it's essential to choose technology based on machine learning, which allows for implementing automated KYC/AML solutions in a cost-effective and scalable way. It's also advisable to have a specialized team and reliable and committed partners.
Having providers like Didit, which offers the only free and unlimited KYC plan, along with AML Screening and Ongoing AML Monitoring, facilitates adoption in an international market without incurring high international costs. More than 800 companies have already integrated our technology, and many report up to 90% savings in compliance compared to other solutions.
Click on the banner below and revolutionize your global compliance plan with the best KYC tool on the market.
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