Agentic AI is changing the game for financial crime investigations. At Nasdaq Verafin, we’re pioneering a new class of digital workers – intelligent, autonomous agents designed to tackle the most stubborn compliance challenges. The first of these, the Digital Sanctions Analyst, is already making waves in beta environments, transforming how institutions manage sanctions screening.
Why Sanctions Detection Needs Reinvention
Sanctions screening is one of the most resource-intensive areas in compliance – financial institutions continually face new watch lists, new regulations, and a relentless flood of alerts. The sheer volume of alerts generated by watchlist and sanctions monitoring is staggering, with the vast majority being false positives. Teams spend countless hours reviewing alerts that rarely lead to true matches, increasing operational demand.
The stakes are high: regulatory penalties and reputational harm pose serious risks to financial institutions. With AML compliance costs climbing, banks are looking for smarter ways to get more done – without cutting corners. That’s where Nasdaq Verafin’s Digital Sanctions Analyst comes in.
What Is Agentic AI – and Why Does It Matter?
Agentic AI makes it possible to develop digital workers powered by advanced large language models (LLMs) that can independently analyze, document, and make decisions on complex compliance tasks. Unlike traditional automation, Agentic AI workers are designed to handle end-to-end processes with minimal supervision, freeing up human analysts for higher-value investigations. In the context of financial crime investigations Agentic AI offers:
- Automation of low-value, high-volume compliance tasks
- Standardized, thorough documentation for regulatory defense
- The ability to scale compliance operations without proportional increases in staffing
How the Digital Sanctions Analyst Works
The Digital Sanctions Analyst is built on Agentic AI principles: context-aware, explainable, and seamlessly integrated into existing workflows. This intelligent digital worker pulls together the data, reviews alerts, and flags likely false positives using advanced technology. By handling most alerts on its own, the Digital Sanctions Analyst frees up your team to focus on what really matters. For every sanctions alert, it delivers a clear recommendation – either “Acknowledge” or “Review” – backed by a concise summary of the evidence. It highlights the most relevant data points, such as name matches, date of birth changes, and location differences, and automatically pre-populates documentation for analysts.
What makes Nasdaq Verafin’s digital worker stand out is its ability to standardize and thoroughly document every alert, making regulatory defense easier and freeing up human analysts for higher-value tasks. The notes generated include detailed evidences that support the recommendation, ensuring every decision is defensible.
Early adopters have seen real impact:
- Reduced ramp-up time: New analysts get up to speed faster thanks to AI-generated summaries.
- Consistent, thorough documentation: Institutions report more standardized and complete records, making regulatory reviews smoother.
- Lower manual review workload: Teams are spending less time on false positives and more on genuine threats.
A Strategic Advantage for Financial Institutions
Agentic AI isn’t just about automation – it’s about empowering compliance teams to work smarter, not harder. The Digital Sanctions Analyst is helping institutions reassign staff to higher-value areas, reduce risk, and defend their decisions with confidence.
Why Nasdaq Verafin?
Nasdaq Verafin has been applying artificial intelligence to financial crime management since day one – building deep domain expertise over more than 20 years to meet the complex and evolving needs of banks and credit unions. Combined with decades of AML innovation, Nasdaq Verafin is trusted by thousands of institutions to deliver reliable, cutting-edge solutions.
Looking Forward
The Digital Sanctions Analyst is just the beginning. As Agentic AI workers evolve, financial institutions can expect even greater efficiency and accuracy in their fight against financial crime. At Nasdaq Verafin, we’re committed to helping our customers stay ahead – today and tomorrow.
About the Author:
FOUAD HASSOUNEH
VP – Product Management, Nasdaq Verafin
Since joining Nasdaq Verafin in 2013, Fouad has excelled in a wide range of roles. In his current role as VP – Product Management, Fouad is responsible for defining the product vision, strategy, and roadmap. He helps Nasdaq Verafin deliver solutions that leverage artificial intelligence to effectively detect money laundering, while helping institutions maintain compliance. Working in close collaboration with Nasdaq Verafin colleagues, customers and senior stakeholders, Fouad applies his extensive knowledge of the AML/CFT and fraud landscapes to guide innovations and enhancements to product management and analytics. Fouad is passionate about creating value for customers and society by combating financial crime with cutting-edge technology.
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