Banking & Financial Monitorships, AML & Regulatory Oversight

Independent compliance monitors for AML, BSA and sanctions matters

Guidepost Solutions is a global firm that serves as independent monitor and compliance advisor to banks and other financial institutions. Our monitorship practice acts as or supports the independent monitor following a criminal prosecution or civil regulatory settlement, and we also provide annual independent reviews for regulated industries, such as financial services. Our specialties include compliance risk advisory, financial crime, forensic accounting, corruption, bribery, antitrust, sanctions compliance, cross-border investigations, and fraud matters.

Our team has been appointed multiple times by the US Department of Justice, FinCEN, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as independent compliance monitor. We have served in more than 25 appointments by or with approval of the Department of Justice, United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Attorney General of the State of New York, among other state, local and federal regulatory agencies. Many of our monitors are former federal prosecutors and regulators.

We have expertise in data acquisition, migration, modeling, and statistical analysis of transactional activity. We can evaluate for unusual and suspicious activity by performing clustering, velocity, link and other statistical analyses, including correlation and regression analyses. Our assistance includes selecting appropriate transaction monitoring software, conducting lookbacks, and refining rules using those analyses.

Bank compliance monitoring and AML oversight for financial institutions

Quick Facts about Monitors

An independent monitor is a third-party appointed to assess whether a financial institution is meeting the terms of a settlement, plea agreement or regulatory order. The monitor reviews the bank’s compliance program, tests whether controls work in practice, reports findings to the government and the institution, and tracks remediation until the obligations are satisfied.

You may also see the role described as an Independent Consultant, or IC. Whatever the title, the job is the same: provide objective, evidence-based assessment that regulators can rely on and that gives the institution a clear path forward.

Monitors are most often imposed as part of a criminal resolution or civil regulatory settlement involving BSA/AML failures, sanctions violations, or broader weaknesses in compliance and internal controls. The agencies that impose them include the U.S. Department of Justice, FinCEN, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and state authorities such as the New York Attorney General.

Whether a monitor is appropriate, how the monitor is selected and what the scope should be are questions our experts have studied and written about.

Our banking monitorship experience

We regularly assist traditional and nontraditional financial institutions through active monitoring of problems related to BSA/AML issues, sanctions compliance, and the overall effectiveness of compliance programs. We are adept at navigating the challenges of monitoring complex global banks, tackling difficult issues head on and pursuing compliance issues that require assessments across multiple business lines and far flung geographic locations, all within the context of different operating models, persistent cultural issues, and varying secrecy laws and business traditions.

Through our experience, we have found that the appointment of an independent monitor, though required by government action, can be an opportunity for the company to emerge better and stronger than ever before. Our monitoring and compliance services offer institutions the opportunity to enhance their commitment to a safer and more equitable culture and to present a more dynamic compliance framework to stakeholders, the public and regulators as part of the solution to the problem.

For related oversight models, see our Corporate Integrity Monitoring and Regulator Responsive Monitorships services.

Shaping how monitorships are decided

Guidepost Solutions’ experts Bart M. Schwartz and Andrew O’Connell contributed their expertise to the Global Investigations Review’s Guide to Monitorships, Fourth Edition. Their chapter, “When Enforcement Agencies Should Decide to Appoint a Monitor,” explores:

Mechanisms for imposing monitors
Types of monitorships
Agencies that impose monitorships
DOJ guidance on monitors and the selection process

Our firm also contributed to and edited the guide. This work underscores Guidepost Solutions’ thought leadership in compliance oversight, government appointed monitorships and corporate remediation programs.

Read the Chapter

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

An independent compliance monitor is a third-party appointed to assess a company’s compliance program and report on whether it meets the terms of a settlement, plea agreement or regulatory order. Guidepost acts as or supports the independent monitor following a criminal prosecution or civil regulatory settlement.

Our team has been appointed multiple times by the US Department of Justice, FinCEN, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC, in addition to United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Attorney General of the State of New York.

Yes. We have been appointed on matters including several global banks related to AML and sanctions, and we regularly assist traditional and nontraditional financial institutions with BSA/AML issues, sanctions compliance and the overall effectiveness of compliance programs.

A monitorship is imposed through government action following a prosecution or settlement. An independent review is often an annual or periodic assessment for a regulated industry such as financial services or healthcare, or a self-motivated remediation project. We apply the same expertise to both.

Bart M. Schwartz and Andrew O’Connell contributed a chapter to the Global Investigations Review’s Guide to Monitorships, Fourth Edition, and our firm contributed to and edited the guide.