the AffirmX blog

Lessons from Troubled Restaurants for Financial Institutions

I’ve become a huge fan of a reality show called Restaurant Impossible. It features a host, Chef Robert Irvine, who visits a restaurant in some level of disarray and attempts to completely overhaul it in 48 hours. This overhaul is usually filled with tears and trauma. After all, some of these restaurant owners have worked their entire [...]

By |2017-10-02T09:00:26-04:00October 2nd, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on Lessons from Troubled Restaurants for Financial Institutions

Risk Watch's 6-Part Take on Consumer Complaints

One of our most-covered topics (especially lately) in our 130+ episodes of Risk Watch is consumer complaints and complaint management. We’ve brought these six consumer complaint episodes out of the Risk Watch Central vault (available through My Risk Inbox) to help you brush up on your complaint management at no charge for the month of October. Watch them here. Risk [...]

By |2017-09-25T09:00:02-04:00September 25th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on Risk Watch's 6-Part Take on Consumer Complaints

BSA/AML Systems Survivor

Imagine two scenarios. In the first, you fly to a beautiful, remote island for a carefree week at an exclusive and all-inclusive resort. You spend the week soaking up sun on the beach, enjoying fine dining, and snorkeling in the crystal clear water. Now for scenario two. Same beautiful island, but this time, there's no [...]

By |2017-09-18T09:00:26-04:00September 18th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on BSA/AML Systems Survivor

How to Optimize Your AML System (Without Hiring Sherlock)

One of the defining characteristics of Sherlock Holmes (besides the deerstalker hat and overcoat) is his almost superhuman powers of deduction. In the first Sherlock novel, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes says, "From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other." In every [...]

By |2017-09-11T09:00:07-04:00September 11th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on How to Optimize Your AML System (Without Hiring Sherlock)

Your Top 6 BSA Questions Answered

Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance can be one of the more difficult areas of compliance. Even if you feel like you've got a pretty good handle on all the requirements, it's likely you're still going to have a few questions, especially when the scenarios get a little more complex (just like in real life). That's [...]

By |2017-09-05T09:00:34-04:00September 5th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on Your Top 6 BSA Questions Answered

In Pursuit of the Well-Written SAR Narrative

Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) narratives can be one of the more problematic areas of BSA compliance. However, not only are SARs an important tool for government authorities to help fight criminal financial activity, they frequently trip up financial institutions in examinations, leading to potentially costly fines and an adverse impact on their reputations, which is [...]

By |2017-08-25T09:00:46-04:00August 25th, 2017|Blog, Compliance Tips|Comments Off on In Pursuit of the Well-Written SAR Narrative

What Happens to Your SARs?

Imagine you spent hours and hours in the kitchen carefully preparing meals for someone, only to learn later that, instead of eating those meals, they had ordered pizza, letting your hard work spoil in the refrigerator. You'd probably be steamed. Similarly, you'd probably be a bit peeved if you learned that instead of using your [...]

By |2017-08-21T09:00:09-04:00August 21st, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on What Happens to Your SARs?

New York's 504: BSA/AML Requirements You May Want to Start Wearing

If you're a fashion fanatic and you want to get a jump on what will be hot next season, you'd probably want to look to the current fashion trends in New York. After all, New York, New York is known as one of the fashion capitals of the world. Now, if you're in charge of [...]

By |2017-08-14T09:00:26-04:00August 14th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on New York's 504: BSA/AML Requirements You May Want to Start Wearing

The Fair Lending Self-Assessment “Miracle”

Originally published in CU Insight I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for a good sports movie. One of my favorites is “Miracle,” the 2004 movie starring Kurt Russell, who plays Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey squad, which (and I’ll try to avoid any spoilers here, but the movie’s title might have [...]

By |2017-08-07T09:00:04-04:00August 7th, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on The Fair Lending Self-Assessment “Miracle”

ACH Fitness: 5 Trouble Spots

Marketers of diet and exercise programs like to point out that their programs target the "trouble spots" of the body. "Trouble spots" generally refer to parts of the body that people typically have a hard time keeping in shape, like the tummy or upper thighs for example. There are targeted workout programs that claim, "just 15 [...]

By |2017-07-31T09:01:17-04:00July 31st, 2017|Blog|Comments Off on ACH Fitness: 5 Trouble Spots