Vinod Jaising

In the run-up to the Leaders in Finance AML event on 1 October in Amsterdam Pakhuis de Zwijger, we spoke with Vinod Jaising, Global Head of Financial & Economic Crime at Rabobank. We discussed Rabobank’s current priorities, becoming more risk-based rather than rule-based, cooperation and intelligence sharing, the role of technology and AI, and how the sector can better measure the effectiveness of financial crime controls.

Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your role at Rabobank?
I’m the Global Head of Financial & Economic Crime at Rabobank. My responsibility is to ensure that we effectively protect our customers, the bank and society against financial and economic crime, while helping Rabobank achieve its strategic ambitions.

Our challenge is not only to maintain a strong and resilient control environment, but also to do so in a way that is increasingly customer-centric, technology-enabled and future-ready.

What are Rabobank’s key priorities around financial and economic crime at the moment?
First, maintaining a strong and resilient foundation by continuously strengthening our AML controls and risk management capabilities.
Second, improving the customer experience by embedding AML more seamlessly into customer journeys.
Third, accelerating the use of technology, data and AI to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
Ultimately, our goal is to be a world-class FEC organization that delivers simplified, customer-centric and future-proof solutions.

Looking at the current AML landscape, what do you see as the most important developments?
One of the most important developments is the move from fragmented compliance requirements toward a more harmonised and risk-based AML framework, particularly in Europe through the new AML regulation and the establishment of AMLA. The industry is moving beyond simply demonstrating compliance towards proving effectiveness.
What makes this development so significant is that it encourages institutions to look at financial crime risks more holistically. Rather than treating customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions, fraud and investigations as separate disciplines, we are increasingly expected to bring them together around a single understanding of customer risk and behaviour. That shift has the potential to improve both outcomes and efficiency.

A central theme of this year’s AML event is balancing effective AML compliance with cost efficiency. Where do you see the biggest opportunity to make AML frameworks both more effective and more proportionate?
The biggest opportunity lies in becoming truly risk-based. For many years, AML frameworks have expanded through additional controls, reviews and processes. The next step is not simply doing more, but becoming more precise. By using better data, intelligence and risk insights, we can focus resources where the risks are greatest and reduce unnecessary friction where risks are lower.
Proportionality is not about lowering standards. It is about applying the right measures to the right risks, improving effectiveness, supporting a better customer experience and deploying resources more efficiently.

Cooperation is often mentioned as essential in the fight against financial crime. Where do you see the opportunities, particularly when it comes to cooperation across Europe?
The greatest opportunity is in moving from information sharing to intelligence sharing.
Today, many organisations still hold valuable insights in separate silos. Criminal networks, however, operate across institutions, borders and sectors. No single institution has the full picture.
Public-private partnerships, collaborative analytics, shared typologies, and trusted mechanisms for exchanging risk indicators can significantly enhance collective effectiveness. Regulators also play an important role by providing clarity on how institutions can collaborate while respecting privacy and legal requirements.
Technology partners can contribute by creating secure platforms that allow organisations to share insights and detect patterns without necessarily sharing sensitive customer data. The future lies in collective intelligence rather than isolated control frameworks.

What would be your main message to your peers when it comes to cooperation?
We need to collectively find ways to share more intelligence with each other in a controlled way. We obviously need the support of regulators to make sure everybody is aware of what we’re doing. It’s not about tipping off or talking about the risk appetites of different banks, but how can we talk about typologies of criminal networks and the trends we’re seeing, so that we can all try to build the right controls to mitigate financial crime.
If we can collaborate and share more, and enhance public-private partnerships, I think that’s how we can collectively mitigate financial crime risks.

Technology, data and AI are becoming more important in financial crime prevention. What role do you believe they should play, and where should the sector remain cautious?
Technology, data and AI should become powerful enablers of better decision making, not replacements for judgment.
AI can help identify patterns, prioritise alerts, reduce false positives and uncover risks that traditional rule-based systems may miss. It can also help investigators process large amounts of information far more efficiently.
However, we should remain cautious in three areas.
First, explainability. Institutions must understand and be able to explain why a model reaches a particular conclusion.
Second, data quality. Even the most sophisticated AI will produce poor outcomes if the underlying data is incomplete or unreliable.
Third, governance and accountability. Decisions that materially affect customers or regulatory outcomes must always remain subject to appropriate human oversight.
The future is not human versus AI; it is human expertise augmented by AI.

What’s one question or topic you hope will be addressed during the event?
One question I think we can collectively explore is: how do we measure the effectiveness of financial crime controls in a way that is meaningful for regulators, institutions and society?
For many years, the industry has focused heavily on activity metrics such as alert volumes, review numbers and remediation actions. Those measures tell us how much work we are doing, but not necessarily whether we are reducing financial crime.
As AML frameworks become more mature, I believe we need a broader discussion on outcome-based measures, collective effectiveness and how success should be defined in the future. That conversation is essential if we want to build AML frameworks that are both sustainable and truly impactful.

Finally, what advice would you give to young professionals at the start of their careers in the financial sector?
I think it’s an incredible period to be starting your career. Geopolitical changes, technological changes and disruption are at a level I’ve never seen before, and the pace of change and uncertainty is incredibly high.
For a young professional, my advice would be to continue investing in yourself. What got you your first job or your current job may not keep you relevant for your future job, or even within your own organisation.
Invest in AI. Don’t look at it as a threat; embrace it. The person of the future is not someone who will simply be replaced by AI, but someone who can augment AI to the best of their ability.
Be agile in your thinking and be willing to change and adapt to changing situations. Adaptability, staying relevant and investing in yourself would probably be my key guidance for the new generation. The more you keep investing in yourself, the more relevant you will stay, and as things change, you can adapt.

Vinod Jaising is Global Head of Financial & Economic Crime at Rabobank. He will be speaking at the Leaders in Finance AML event on 1 October 2026 in Amsterdam.