The State of
Financial Crime 2026
North America edition

North America's compliance landscape sits at a revealing juncture. Global standards are harmonizing, but national approaches to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) enforcement are diverging – and that divergence is effectively deputizing firms to lead from the front. When the playbook keeps evolving, the question shifts from following the rules to proving your own program actually works.

This is the AMER cut of our sixth annual survey of senior compliance decision-makers. What's inside:

• Regulation is diverging, and firms are picking up the slack. Approaches split by border: Canada leans hardest into innovation-led AI regulation, while US leaders are the least likely of any market to call it the most effective. Find out what that means for firms operating across both.
• Real-time defense is the new baseline. As payments become instant and irrevocable, 61% of firms globally now prioritize real-time monitoring – and North America leads, at 64% in the US and 70% in Canada. See why the region isn't waiting.
• Everyone's investing in AI. Few can prove it's governed. Budgeting is near-universal, but only 60% of firms call their AI assurance programs mature. Understand where oversight is still catching up to spend.
• The operational drag beneath it all. 81% of firms still spend more than 5 minutes clearing a single sanctions alert at onboarding, and 54% juggle 8 to 10 separate screening tools. See what's slowing down good teams.