Stephen Platt
Jersey
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Articles by Stephen Platt
Decadal doubling of Siberian methane emissions due to warming-induced fires and methanogenesis
Editor’s summary Abstract Supplementary Materials References and Notes Information & Authors Metrics & Citations Check Access References Figures Tables Media Share Editor’s summary Northern hemispheric permafrost stores twice as much carbon as is found in the atmosphere. As permafrost thaws due to climate warming, it becomes a potential source of methane emissions caused by microbial decomposition of soil organic carbon in wetlands, which could cause further warming. Zhu et al.
Constraining the intensive absorption properties of ambient organic aerosol particles based on pan-European observations
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Abstract Organic aerosol particles (OA) can absorb solar radiation with varying efficiencies depending on their chemical composition and physical properties. This light-absorbing fraction of OA, commonly referred to as brown carbon (BrC), is difficult to accurately represent in climate models due to the inherent diversity of its optical properties.
By Jordi Rovira, Gang Chen, Martin Gysel-Beer, Minna Aurela, John Backman, Benjamin T. Brem, Kaspar R. Daellenbach, Joel de Brito, Evangelia Diapouli, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Mikael Ehn, Olivier Favez, Maria Gini, Roy M. Harrison, Liine M. Heikkinen, Christoph Hueglin, Antti Hyvärinen, Hannes Keernik, Eleni T Liakakou, Chunshui Lin, Marek Maasikmets, Hanna E. Manninen, Manousos Ioannis Manousakas, Nicolas Marchand, Nikos Mihalopoulos, María Cruz Minguillón, Jarkko Niemi, Jurgita Ovadnevaite, Noemi Ann Perez, Noemí Pérez, Jean-Eudes Petit, Stephen Platt, Petra Pokorna, André S. H. Prévôt, Véronique Riffault, Martin Rigler, Matteo Rinaldi, Erik Teinemaa, Hilkka Timonen, Anna Tobler, Jeni Vasilescu, Olga Zografou, Andres Alastuey, Tuukka Petäjä, Xavier Querol, Marco Pandolfi, Jesús Yus-Díez, Sujai Banerji, Anna Canals-Angerri, Benjamin Chazeau, Harald Flentje, Konstantinos Granakis, Radek Lhotka, Krista Luoma, Saliou Mbengue, Doina Nicolae, Jaroslav Schwarz, Iasonas Stavroulas, Kimmo Teinilä, Stergios Vratolis, Karl Espen Yttri
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Nature
Verified
Reinsurance AML Compliance: Demonstrating Effectiveness
The reinsurance markets in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda are a genuine success story. Capital flows to these justifications because of regulatory credibility. With market growth comes regulatory scrutiny. The question that regulators are increasingly asking is not whether AML frameworks exist, but whether they work in practice. That distinction between having a framework and demonstrating its effectiveness is at the heart of how global AML supervision is evolving.
KYC and AML Challenges for Caribbean Insurers
Insurers operating in the Caribbean region manage complex ownership chains, cross-border relationships, amid increasing regulatory scrutiny. Insurance markets in these jurisdictions often involve international group structures and intermediary relationships. Therefore, AML controls must be risk-based, proportionate, and demonstrably effective. Below is a summary of the key challenges across the region.
2026 KYC/AML Outlook
This year, speed is set to become the deciding factor in KYC and AML. Customer risk shifts faster than periodic review cycles. Illicit finance is fragmenting into smaller, harder-to-spot flows. Sanctions continue to change quickly, and not always in sync across jurisdictions. AI is accelerating both sides of financial crime, enabling more scalable deception while raising expectations for explainable, auditable AI-powered controls.
Preventing Financial Crime in 2026: Why It Matters and How to Stay Ahead
2025 has been a tumultuous year for financial crime prevention. The modern financial system continues to face unprecedented new and emerging threats from a myriad of directions, as criminal deploy increasingly sophisticated, advanced techniques to exploit companies’ vulnerabilities. However financial services are at the forefront of deploying advanced technologies to detect and prevent financial crime, ensuring illicit funds never enter the mainstream financial system.
Global AML Roundup: 2025 in Review
In 2025, there was no slowdown in enforcement for financial crime failings. See the roundup of the biggest stories from the past year. Global Enforcement Trends Europe Monzo - £21M Fine Neobank Monzo was fined £21m in July for serious and prolonged failings in its AML controls between 2018 and 2020. The FCA highlighted weaknesses across customer due diligence, ongoing monitoring, treatment of high-risk customers and reporting of suspicious activity.
Russian Oil Sanctions Update
In October 2025, the United States, United Kingdom and European Union each introduced new sanctions targeting the core of Russia’s energy revenues, a critical funding source for its military activity. All three jurisdictions announced measures involving Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, as well as actors that enable the continued movement of Russian oil.
What Experian’s Acquisition of KYC360 Means for You
Experian’s acquisition of KYC360 is a strategic move to combine strengths, expand capabilities and unlock new opportunities for innovation and growth in financial crime compliance. It pairs KYC360’s industry-leading Screening, Onboarding and Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions with Experian’s global data, analytics, identity and fraud prevention expertise.
Essential Checklist for Selecting an eKYC Provider
Financial service providers operating in jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI), The Bahamas and Bermuda are facing increasing regulatory scrutiny. Recent legislative changes, including expanded beneficial ownership regimes and enhanced supervisory frameworks, mean that institutions must rethink outdated compliance workflows. At the same time, regulators are becoming more receptive to electronic identity verification (eIDV) and digital onboarding.
FCA Fines Monzo £21m: What Went Wrong?
Monzo, one of the UK’s most well-known neobanks, was fined £21,091,300 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for serious failings in its financial crime controls and systems from October 2018 to August 2020. The enforcement action stems from a major investigation, which revealed systemic lapses in customer due diligence (CDD), risk assessment, and transaction monitoring.
Top 5 Regulatory Challenges for Swiss Financial Institutions
Swiss financial institutions, especially financial intermediaries and asset managers, face mounting regulatory challenges. Compliance teams face growing pressure from outdated manual processes that drain resources and increase the risk of breaches. Below are the top challenges that they grapple with: 1. Manual periodic reviews KYC reviews are essential, but when handled manually they are a drain on resources. Slow, error-prone processes increase costs and divert teams away from higher-value tasks. 2.
KYC360 Publishes Insights from 2025 KYC Remediation Survey
KYC360 is proud to release its latest industry report, "The Future of KYC Remediation: Top Priorities and Challenges in 2025." This survey of 116 compliance professionals confirms that KYC remediation remains a complex, resource-intensive process, with firms struggling to manage outdated customer records and fragmented systems amid growing regulatory scrutiny.
Guernsey's Positive MONEYVAL Evaluation
Guernsey has received a largely positive assessment from Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) body. The island was praised for its robust legal framework and effective supervision. However, it was urged to enhance its enforcement efforts to more effectively combat financial crime. The 5th Round Moneyval Mutual Evaluation Report found that Guernsey demonstrated a high level of technical compliance with global AML/CTF standards.
Trump 2.0: Assessing the Impact on the Regulatory Landscape
With Donald Trump back in the White House for a 2nd term, the financial services industry is bracing for a shift in tone, priorities and approach to enforcement. While the U.S. has historically maintained a strong stance on AML (Anti-Money Laundering), sanctions enforcement and financial crime prevention, Trump’s second administration may introduce regulatory rollbacks, shifts in enforcement focus and a more business-friendly stance, particularly in the digital assets space.
Growth vs. Governance
Recent regulatory enforcement actions against Block Inc, BitMEX and Robinhood highlight ongoing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance challenges for organisations. These multi-million dollar fines show that major enforcement action from regulators looks set to continue in 2025. Each case not only reveals the severe consequences of failing to meet AML obligations but also provides valuable insights on how businesses can successfully balance rapid growth and innovation with regulatory compliance.
Nye estimater av metanutslippene fra Nord Stream: En historisk viktig begivenhet
Siden Nord Stream-lekkasjen i september 2022 har forskere forsøkt å fastslå den nøyaktige mengden metan som ble sluppet ut i atmosfæren. – Nord Stream-metanlekkasjen førte til den største registrerte mengden metan sluppet ut fra en enkelt hendelse. Likevel, med den mengden vi nå har beregnet tilsvarer det fortsatt bare 0,1 % av de totale menneskeskapte metanutslippene for 2022, sier seniorforsker Ignacio Pisso fra klima- og miljøinstituttet NILU.
TD Bank Blog- A Cautionary Tale of Defective AML
Written by Stephen Platt In a scandal that would make even the most jaded banker blush, TD Bank has been outed for facilitating money laundering on a scale that would impress a Bond villain. FinCEN has slapped the bank with a record $1.3 billion penalty for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the primary U.S. anti-money laundering law. But wait, there’s more. The U.S. Justice Department piled on with an additional $1.8 billion in fines, bringing the grand total to a staggering $3.1 billion.
Metro Bank’s £16.7M Fine: A Wake-Up Call for Financial Institutions
In November 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed a £16.7 million fine on Metro Bank for significant anti-money laundering (AML) failings. These failings, rooted in deficiencies in transaction monitoring and data governance, highlight the challenges faced by financial institutions in balancing growth and regulatory compliance.
The TD Bank Scandal: How Greed, Hubris, and a Little Bit of “Salesmanship” Turned Canadian Banking Upside Down
Written by Stephen Platt One wouldn’t expect a Canadian bank to make headlines for all the wrong reasons, would one? Canada is, after all, the land of politeness, patience, and timidity—even in banking. But the TD Bank scandal seems to have thrown all that out the window. An institution supposed to embody stability and trust has somehow managed to resemble a dodgy loan shark more than a well-regarded financial institution.
Starling Bank’s £29M Fine: Lessons in Balancing Innovation and Compliance
Written by Stephen Platt. Starling Bank, a UK-based digital bank, has been widely regarded as a leading example of the new wave of fintechs disrupting traditional banking. However, the bank faced a significant setback recently when it was fined £29 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for failings in its anti-money laundering (AML) controls. This fine is a reminder that even the most innovative and forward-thinking financial institutions must adhere to fundamental regulatory standards.
What the Banking Industry Can Learn from Formula 1 about Data-Driven Risk Management
Written by Stephen Platt, CEO KYC360 and Neil Martin former Director of Race Strategy at Ferrari F1 and KYC360 Board Advisor In the high-stakes world of Formula 1 racing, split-second decisions and finely tuned strategies often separate the champions from the pack. As the pinnacle of motorsport, F1 operates in an environment where a single misstep can lead to catastrophic outcomes—not unlike the high-risk environment of banking.
How to Use Live AVM Monitoring to Efficiently Screen High-Risk Customers
Background A financial institution was looking to enhance its adverse media (AVM) monitoring by screening high-risk clients more proactively. Their aim was to identify potential reputational risks and early warning signs that weren’t detectable through structured AVM (verified and categorised findings from databases) alone. Here’s how they implemented the KYC360 Live AVM Module, achieving robust compliance without overwhelming operational resources. 1.
Why Banks Need to Clean Up Their Act Before the Regulators Do It for Them
Why Banks Need to Clean Up Their Act Before the Regulators Do It for Them Written by Stephen Platt It’s easy to think of Know Your Customer (KYC) remediation as yet another tedious exercise in banking compliance—one that involves heaps of paperwork, endless forms, and hours of mind-numbing verification checks. But here’s the reality check: banks ignore KYC at their peril. When it comes to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws, there’s absolutely no wiggle room.
Secondary Sanctions and Risk Management by Financial Institutions
Written by Stephen Platt Secondary sanctions are an essential tool used by countries, notably the United States, to enforce foreign policy objectives. Unlike primary sanctions, which directly target individuals, businesses, or countries with prohibitions, secondary sanctions aim to deter third-party entities from doing business with those already sanctioned.
AML Failures at Lake Elsinore Casino
Written by Stephen Platt Overview of Incident Lake Elsinore Casino, a cardroom located in Lake Elsinore, California, came under scrutiny by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations. The casino’s failure to comply with AML regulations led to significant penalties and served as a wake-up call for other gambling businesses across the industry.
Key Takeaways from TD Bank’s Record Fine for AML Failures
TD Bank was hit with a record $3 billion fine from U.S. regulators for significant anti-money laundering (AML) failings and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The total fine is made up of a $1.3 billion penalty imposed by the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and a $1.8 billion fine issued by the US Justice Department. The fine is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on banks failing to meet AML standards.
How to Prepare for Australia's New AML/CTF Regulations
Published on Oct 21, 2024 The Australian government has introduced highly anticipated amendments to the Australian AML/CFT regime into federal parliament. They aim to modernise Australia’s approach to fighting financial crime and bring it into line with international standards as mandated by the FATF.
How Cambridge embraced growth, overcame nimbyism, and built better housing
Source: Cambridge Architectural Research Ltd A new report reveals how Cambridge overcame barriers to growth and set a new standard for UK housing development, write Stephen Platt A report has just been published that evaluates housing schemes in Cambridge and the Cambridgeshire Quality Panel’s role in raising quality, and explores potential lessons for other growth areas.
How Cambridge embraced growth, overcame nimbyism, and built better housing
A new report reveals how Cambridge overcame growth barriers and set a new standard for UK housing developments, write Stephen Platt A report has just been published that evaluates housing schemes in Cambridge and the Cambridgeshire Quality Panel’s role in raising quality, and explores potential lessons for other growth areas.
The social determinants of health: an umbrella review
The authors have declared no competing interest. This work was funded by the Health Service Executive, National Office for Suicide Prevention, Dublin, Ireland. I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
CHINA'S SHIFTING HISTORY: STEPHEN PLATT (ON WRITING)
Understanding the history, or perhaps more importantly, the treatment of history in China, is a critical skill for anyone seeking greater comprehension of the national security arena. Stephen Platt has spent a great deal of his career as a historian and author studying events like the Taiping Civil War and the Opium War in the nineteenth century.
Energy Brief for Sept 29.23
by market analysts Stephen Platt and Mike McElroy Price Overview After reaching a high of 95.03 basis November early yesterday, prices have fallen sharply to settle at 90.71 today for a loss of 92 cents, putting the market back into its previously established range of 88-92.
Energy Brief for July 12.23
Risk Warning: Investments in Equities, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) in any instrument, Futures, Options, Derivatives and Foreign Exchange can fluctuate in value. Investors should therefore be aware that they may not realise the initial amount invested and may incur additional liabilities. These investments may be subject to above average financial risk of loss. Investors should consider their financial circumstances, investment experience and if it is appropriate to invest.
Suicide prevention for physicians: identification, intervention and mitigation of risk
Abstract General physicians and general practitioners are at the front line of suicide prevention, and patients are commonly assessed or admitted to emergency departments and medical wards after self-harm. The rate of suicide is low, making it hard to determine who is at risk at a given time-point. Traditional suicide risk assessment tools relied mainly on demographic risk factors, despite decades of research failing to find clinically meaningful associations.
Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Xinhua News Agency / Getty / The Atlantic Why Are There No Biographies of Xi Jinping? It is high time we have a better sense of what makes the autocratic, muscular-nationalist, order-obsessed strongman in charge of China tick. Claro Cortes / Reuters The Divides That Make Hong Kong and West Berlin The two cities have had shared stresses, balancing radically different ideologies.
Were the floods in the UK 2007 and Germany 2013 game-changers?
1. Introduction The aim of this paper is to report the speed and quality of recovery of communities affected by floods, following events in the UK in 2007 and in Germany in 2013. The study focuses on two places that were severely flooded: Sheffield and Rotherham in South Yorkshire, UK, and Passau, in Bavaria, near the Austrian border, Germany. Both places have been flooded numerous times.
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