Global financial institutions are increasingly concerned that they are falling behind fast-moving, AI-enabled criminal networks, according to new research published by ComplyAdvantage.
The firm’s latest study highlights cybercrime, organised crime and human trafficking as the areas where compliance leaders feel most exposed, alongside growing calls for clearer regulatory guidance.
The findings are drawn from The State of Financial Crime 2026 Report, which surveyed more than 600 C-suite executives and senior compliance professionals across financial institutions worldwide.
The research paints a picture of mounting vulnerability, as the gap between increasingly sophisticated criminal activity and institutional defences continues to widen. This imbalance, the report suggests, is creating opportunities for illicit financial flows and human exploitation to pass through systems undetected.
Cybercrime was identified as the leading area of exposure, cited by 54% of respondents, followed by organised crime at 37% and human trafficking at 33%. Looking ahead, firms expect the threat landscape to become even more complex over the next 12 months, with high-end money laundering forecast by 41% of respondents, trade-based money laundering by 38%, terrorist financing via crowdfunding by 30%, and money mulling by 26%.
These emerging risks are being layered onto compliance teams already stretched by existing pressures. Respondents reported that a significant share of their current resources is absorbed by cybercrime threats (28%), organised criminal groups (17%), terrorist financing (15%) and human trafficking (13%). The report warns that without a more integrated, intelligence-led AML approach, institutions will struggle to reallocate capacity toward more advanced, AI-driven criminal threats.
The human impact of these weaknesses is particularly stark in the case of trafficking. STOP THE TRAFFIK CEO Rebekah Lisgarten said, “Human trafficking is not only a serious human rights abuse, but is an illicit business model driven by financial gain. Traffickers rely on legitimate financial systems to launder their illicit proceeds, which means financial institutions are directly positioned to disrupt this global issue. Implementing faster, intelligence-led controls that cut off traffickers’ ability to profit is one of the most powerful ways to prevent exploitation before it occurs.”
Operational shortcomings are further compounding the challenge. Almost all respondents, 99%, acknowledged limitations in their ability to detect financial crime effectively. The most commonly cited issues were weaknesses in sanctions and watchlist screening, reported by 23%, siloed datasets at 22%, and a lack of real-time risk visibility at 21%.
Despite widespread optimism around AI, the report highlights a significant execution gap. While 100% of respondents said they are experiencing or expect positive outcomes from agentic or predictive AI, only 33% currently use such technology for customer screening, with 32% applying it to transaction monitoring. More than 40% also admitted they do not yet have a fully mature AI assurance programme in place, raising concerns about governance readiness.
This disconnect is visible in day-to-day compliance operations. Although 61% of firms view AI-powered real-time monitoring as their primary AML defence, remediation remains slow. A striking 89% of institutions reported that resolving a single transaction monitoring alert can take up to 30 minutes, creating delays that criminals can exploit.
ComplyAdvantage executive director of financial crime compliance strategy Iain Armstrong said, “Criminal networks do not care how advanced your AML roadmap is, or whether regulation is six months or six years away. They move money and victims at speed, and every crack in the wall helps them to do it. If defences are fragmented or slow, fraud scales, money mules multiply, and human exploitation becomes easier to hide. Financial institutions have a responsibility to close these gaps now by building faster, intelligence-led systems that can operate at the same speed as criminals.”
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