Summary Leaders in Finance AML Event 2025
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On the 2nd of October, more than 260 professionals from over 100 organizations gathered for the fifth edition of Leaders in Finance AML Netherlands Event, the cornerstone event for the financial crime-fighting community. The 2025 edition marked not just a milestone 5 year anniversary but also a moment of reflection on how far the sector has come, and how much remains to be done to combat money laundering in an increasingly complex world.
The day brought together a mix of private and public organisations in a spirit of collaboration. Central themes included the balance between rule-based and risk-based regulation, the forthcoming establishment of the European AML Authority (AMLA), and the evolving role of technology and artificial intelligence in compliance and supervision.
It was a day filled with sharp insights, candid debates, and personal stories. From the founding journey of Leaders in Finance itself to deep policy reflections from the Dutch Central Bank and the legal sector’s most seasoned voices.
This document summarizes the interviews, panels and speeches at the event. It is not a transcript of what was said, but provides a paraphrased synopsis of the key points made. It has been prepared and published by Leaders in Finance. Please note that this summary was created with the help of AI tools. While care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the content may contain errors or omissions. For full clarity or specific details, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Key takeaways
- Collaboration Is the Cornerstone of Effective AML – Fighting financial crime requires mutual trust and coordination between regulators, banks, prosecutors, and technology providers. As Willem Schudel (Dutch Central Bank) stated: “an event such as today, is something that I think we, in the Dutch context, can be very proud of. Because for me, it represents the dialogue that we have with one another. And in my experience so far in the past three years, this is something that I think we do very well in Holland.”
- Regulation Must Balance Control with Flexibility – Daan Doorenbos (Stibbe) warned of a “ tsunami of regulations” threatening to suffocate innovation and proportionality in AML. While rule-based systems bring clarity, the need for flexibility and proportional enforcement remains critical.
- Building Trust Between Banks and Supervisors Is Crucial – After years of tension, both sides recognize that trust must be rebuilt through transparency and predictability. As Schudel put it: “We need to have open conversations about why there’s distrust. Where is it and what does it apply to? Also to be able to build trust, you need to be consistent. That’s an obligation that we have.”
- Technology Is Changing the AML Landscape, but Human Judgment Remains Central – AI and automation are accelerating AML processes, but they must be deployed responsibly. Schudel highlighted that DNB encourages innovation while maintaining a ‘technology-neutral’ supervisory stance, ensuring human oversight stays at the heart of decision-making.
- AML Is About People, Not Just Processes – AML work ultimately protects real lives. Host Irene shared her own phishing experience: “I lost thousands of euros – but I didn’t realize until preparing for the event last year, the incredible importance of the work that you do.”The sentiment set the tone for a day focused on purpose, not just policy.
Welcome & Opening Remarks – Irene Rompa (moderator) & Jeroen Broekema (Leaders in Finance)
Welcoming more than 260 attendees from over 100 organizations, moderator Irene Rompa set the tone for a day centered on learning, dialogue, and connection within the financial-crime-fighting community.
Reflecting on her own experience as a phishing victim, Irene reminded the audience that financial crime is never abstract. “I lost thousands of euros – but I didn’t realize until preparing for the event last year, the incredible importance of the work that you do.” she admitted—prompting a moment of reflection across the room.
She then welcomed Jeroen Broekema, Founder and CEO of Leaders in Finance, to the stage for a heartfelt look back at the organization’s journey. Broekema shared the origins of the platform: how his early podcast interviews during a personal sabbatical in 2020 evolved into a thriving network uniting finance professionals around purpose and leadership.
Broekema credited his co-founder Ernst Beskers, publisher of Banken.nl, for helping transform that vision into a company now hosting more than 30 events annually and employing 20 people. As Irene explained, Leaders in Finance’s success has always been driven by relationships: “they think a podcast is nice, but bringing people together is even nicer. That’s what brought us here today.”
The founders then honored Robin de Jongh, who has been a steadfast supporter since the very first AML event. Broekema recalled de Jong’s constant presence and constructive challenges: “ There was one person in particular from day one that actually was there to give us support in terms of content, give us support in terms of network, helped us with everything, challenged us a lot on what we were doing.” De Jongh was visibly moved, thanking the founders for their trust and praising the community’s evolution: “I believed in your purpose with this company that you were at that time setting up. And also the way you do it. It’s always nice, high standards, the best quality, trying, sometimes failing, get yourself up, just do it again.”
The morning concluded with the premiere of a Leaders in Finance × Deloitte documentary trailer, offering a sneak peek into a new series featuring perspectives from FIOD, FIU, ABN AMRO, Rabobank, ASN Bank, the Dutch Banking Association, and ING. The project highlights the collaborative spirit of the Dutch AML ecosystem and its drive to stay ahead of criminal innovation.
Interview I – Willem Schudel (Head of Department, Financial Crime Supervision (AML/TF), De Nederlandsche Bank)
The first in-depth interview of the day featured Willem Schudel, who shared his reflections after 100 days in his new role leading AML and counter-terrorist-financing supervision at DNB.
Schudel began with an optimistic tone: “Supervisors always want to look at things that are not going well, but I do think it’s very important to also look at things that do go well,” he said. He praised the Dutch AML community’s openness and willingness to engage across institutions: “an event such as today, is something that I think we can be very proud of. Because for me, it represents the dialogue that we have with one another. And in my experience so far in the past three years, this is something that I think we do very well in Holland”
He noted steady progress across banks and financial institutions in risk-based approaches and control frameworks, crediting collaborative efforts for raising standards. Yet Schudel also cautioned against complacency: “AMLA has been established, obviously. But I think the real, major changes for us, practically as supervisors, are still to come.”
On that transition, Schudel explained that DNB is playing an active role in shaping Europe’s new supervisory model. Drawing parallels with Europe’s supervisory approach, he said: “You don’t always get what you want, but in the end, you get a result. You get something that is a common approach, a common standard for everyone, and that is something that I think will benefit all of us.” Schudel emphasized that the effectiveness of the AML chain depends on every link understanding the others’ role—banks, regulators, prosecutors, and technology partners alike.
When asked about technological innovation, he took a pragmatic view. “We’re trying to move away from checklists as much as we can. ” he said. “I think all of us here agree that checklists won’t get us to reduce the big risk.” DNB encourages the responsible use of AI and data analytics but remains ‘technology-neutral’ ensuring that human judgment remains central.
The discussion closed on the theme of trust restoration between supervisors and financial institutions. Schudel acknowledged tensions but was hopeful: “It’s very important to be able to build trust. You need to be consistent. Well, that’s an obligation that we also have. But what helps is not to promise things that you can’t deliver on. So you also need to be frank to each other.”
Speech I– Daan Doorenbos (Professor at Radboud Business Law Institute and lawyer at Stibbe)
Following the morning interview, Daan Doorenbos, one of the Netherlands’ foremost experts in financial crime law, delivered a provocative and highly anticipated keynote. Switching to Dutch for precision, Doorenbos opened by warning that “I think we’ve made progress with anti-money-laundering. Still, we all find it uncomfortable to say that, but it has been completely become excessive.” Citing the Minister of Finance’s recent remarks, he underscored a growing sentiment that the Netherlands’ AML regime is struggling under the weight of its own complexity.
With his signature mix of wit and clarity, Doorenbos took the audience through decades of AML regulation, mapping the shift from rule-based to principle-based and finally to risk-based approaches. He questioned whether this evolution has truly delivered the promised flexibility. “The Wwft came, now the sun would shine. Now we would have freedom, space to fill in those open standards ourselves” he argued, “what did it become? An illusion. Because those open standards were all filled in by, for example, the supervisors. They filled in all those open standards quickly. So that freedom was already limited again.”
He explained that every new directive—from the first AMLD to the current sixth—has expanded the scope of compliance, turning more sectors and professionals into “gatekeepers”. This has blurred the line between regulator and regulated.
The core of his speech focused on the balance between oversight and proportionality. “There will be a tsunami of regulations on us,” Doorenbos warned. He argued that such overregulation risks undermining the very purpose of AML laws: to stop crime effectively. Doorenbos describes that when banks are punished for being too lenient and then again for being too strict, the result is fear—not better compliance.
Doorenbos pointed to the paradoxical relationship between banks, supervisors, and prosecutors. The Dutch Central Bank (DNB), he noted, has gradually evolved toward a more balanced supervisory stance, encouraging a risk-based interpretation. Yet, at the same time, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) continues to pursue large financial institutions with criminal investigations, often in conflict with regulatory intentions.
Referencing past cases such as ING and ABN AMRO, he remarked: “The OM is a serial killer. The OM goes from one big bank to the other.” His critique landed with quiet impact across the audience. The keynote closed on a reflective note. Despite his criticism, Doorenbos expressed optimism that the sector can move toward greater clarity and trust. His talk sparked one of the day’s liveliest discussions during the coffee break that followed.
Case Study – Anet van Schijndel – Financial investigator, Police Netherlands
The next session featured Anet van Schijndel, a financial investigator with the Dutch Police whose remarkable career spans all three corners of the AML chain: policy, supervision, and enforcement. Having started at the Ministry of Finance, then moving to De Nederlandsche Bank to work in supervision, she later decided to get closer to real criminal behavior by joining the Police Unit in Amsterdam. Her trajectory gives her, as Irene put it, “a rare 360-degree view of how the AML ecosystem really works.”
Opening with a touch of humor, van Schijndel referred to herself as representing “the laughing third”— who watches the others argue among themselves. “That’s why I’m here,” she said. “To bring some more perspective”. She vividly described her transition from policymaker to field investigator. This operational vantage point, she argued, is essential to understanding how the AML system functions on the ground.
Van Schijndel’s presentation focused on mortgage fraud as an often-overlooked but critical entry point for money laundering. She defined it simply: “You deliberately falsify income information that you provide to the bank or the mortgage provider to get a mortgage. And with that mortgage you buy a house.”
She connected the issue to broader social consequences, particularly the Dutch housing crisis. “People with a lot of criminal money are able to buy houses, whereas other people with honest money just cannot buy these houses anymore. If there are a lot of houses taken away from the housing market, by means of mortgage fraud, it adds to the disruption.”
Through a series of real-world examples, she showed how criminals use properties obtained through mortgage fraud: living in them, renting them to others, or exploiting them for illicit purposes. Other investigations revealed houses linked to weapons, drugs, and forged IDs. Her message was clear: “I think mortgage fraud is often the means to the end of money laundering.” Because: “By means of mortgage fraud, somebody who makes criminal money can become a house owner. And he can use this real estate for all types of money laundering.”
Van Schijndel then offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at how investigators uncover such fraud. She walked the audience through forged employer statements and fabricated business income reports, demonstrating how false documents can look entirely legitimate at first glance. “If we only trust one document, provided by a client, we just don’t know it’s false,” she warned. Verification requires cross-checking with tax data, bank transactions, and logical reasoning.
Van Schijndel’ conclusion tied the operational stories back to system design. Gatekeepers, she argued, cannot realistically verify every file with such depth—“As gatekeepers you don’t have the capacity to look into every file” Therefore, according to van Schijndel, the solution lies in strengthening barriers at the start of the chain: “If we want to do something about, it starts with turning off the tap. At the front of the ecosystem.”
FI Panel I – Marit Hoegen (Partner, Deloitte), Karim Tadjer (Global Head Financial Crime and Fraud Prevention, ING), Hilko van Rooijen (Head of AML/CFT Compliance, Adyen) & Helène Erftemeijer (Sector Coordinator AML/CFT & Sanctions, Dutch Banking Association)
The first panel of the day, moderated by Marit Hoegen (Partner, Deloitte), explored how AML departments can stay effective in a rapidly changing regulatory and technological landscape. Hoegen, with over 15 years in financial crime compliance, framed the discussion around three key themes: the AML ecosystem, proportionality, and technology.
Karim Tadjer described the AML ecosystem as a “square” of lawmakers, regulators, institutions, and law enforcement—each with its own priorities but a shared mission. He highlighted growing collaboration through public–private partnerships and pilot data-sharing initiatives under Article 75 of the AMLR.
Hilko van Rooijen brought a global payments perspective, emphasizing the tension between innovation and regulation. He described how we all cook the same AML meal worldwide. His analogy underscored the need for global consistency balanced with local nuance. “We cook the same meal together as a global team. Same ingredients are in there: KYC, transaction monitoring and screening. But we need local sources on that, because the risks and the needs differ across regions. So in India we need very spicy sauces. In Germany we need to be a little bit cautious with the sauce. And in the US we need a lot of sauce.”
Helène Erftemeijer urged the sector to ensure European harmonization does not mean overregulation. “Simplification is not deregulation” she stressed. The panel agreed that proportionality, smarter data use, and political support are vital for a more effective, risk-based AML framework.
FI Panel II – Gwendolyn van Tunen (Chief Financial Crime Officer & Member of the Executive Board, ASN Bank), Jaap van der Molen (Head of Detecting Financial Crime, ABN AMRO) and Robin de Jongh (Global Head of Client Due Diligence, Rabobank)
The second panel, moderated by Irene Rompa, gathered three seasoned financial crime leaders to discuss the future of AML work — from leadership and culture to technology and efficiency.
Opening the discussion, the panelists reflected on earlier keynotes, agreeing that while regulation is here to stay, “we just have to fix it and get the job done,” as Van Tunen put it. De Jongh reminded the audience that banks must not be naïve about their role in enabling or preventing financial crime, citing global cases where complacency led to severe societal consequences. His message was clear: collaboration, intelligence sharing, and moral accountability must remain at the heart of AML.
A lighter segment revealed the personalities behind the roles — including the admitting of writing emails with ChatGPT and frustrations over the slow pace of progress. “Everything takes more time than it should, I think we can go much faster than we do today” van Tunen noted, while de Jongh emphasized the need for courage to overcome fear within the system. The group agreed that efficiency, speed, and smart cooperation are crucial to making AML truly risk-based and effective.
The discussion closed on the transformative role of AI. All three saw automation reducing manual workloads by more than 20% within a few years, particularly in screening and due diligence. As De Jongh put it, “The dot on the horizon for me is really the analyst who becomes a quality controller of what technology provides”. The panel ended with optimism that innovation and integrity — when balanced wisely — can make financial crime prevention both smarter and more human.
Interview – Hennie Verbeek-Kusters (Head of FIU the Netherlands)
With humor, humility, and authority, Hennie Verbeek-Kusters shared the story of her extraordinary four-decade journey in Dutch law enforcement — from police officer to global financial intelligence leader. Her motto, born when she was once told marriage disqualified her from promotion, still drives her today: “Good luck to whoever tries to stop me now.” That determination ultimately led her to head the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU–Netherlands) and chair the global Egmont Group of FIUs between 2017 and 2022.
Reflecting on her international experience, Verbeek-Kusters emphasized that while every FIU operates within its own legal and cultural context, their shared mission — analyzing suspicious transactions and supporting law enforcement — unites them. The Netherlands, she noted, stands out for its strong cooperation across agencies and advanced IT infrastructure, both crucial for identifying cross-border money flows. She also underlined a shift towards a “system-based approach”: targeting criminal ecosystems rather than isolated offenders.
Discussing innovation, she praised TMNL (Transaction Monitoring Netherlands) as “the most brilliant innovation if it comes to AML CFT”Although currently dormant, she sees new potential for it to return under Article 75 of the AML Regulation, which enables cross-border and cross-sector data sharing. Verbeek-Kusters calls for careful collaboration with regulators and privacy authorities to make it work.
In response to audience questions, Verbeek-Kusters explained how the FIU processes millions of reports, identifies patterns through weighted queries, and increasingly provides feedback to financial institutions — a practice being formalized under new EU legislation. She closed on an encouraging note: “Money laundering is the most important pillar for serious organized crime. You cannot fight serious organized crime without fighting money laundering. At the same time we can conclude that it’s more difficult now to launder your money in the banks which I would really want to state as a success. Baby steps but we’re moving forward.”
(Online) Speech and Q&A – Chiara Bacci (Acting Deputy Head of the AMLA Task Force, European Commission)
Joining virtually from Frankfurt, Chiara Bacci offered a detailed and engaging update on the establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) — one of the European Union’s most ambitious undertakings in financial oversight. With a background spanning consumer protection, antitrust, and Brexit negotiations, Bacci now plays a central role in building the agency tasked with transforming Europe’s AML landscape.
Bacci outlined AMLA’s three core missions: supervision, coordination and support of FIUs, as well as regulatory developments. A major innovation, she noted, is AMLA’s mandate to foster cross-border cooperation among Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) — enabling shared analysis, joint investigations, and the use of advanced IT and AI tools. Each FIU in the EU will delegate a representative to Frankfurt, ensuring unified collaboration. “Criminals are great users and great supporters of the internal market” she said, “We need to match that and have FIUs really work together on cross-border cases.”
In its supervisory role, AMLA will directly oversee around 40 of Europe’s most systemically significant financial institutions, with powers to investigate, impose sanctions, and coordinate supervision across member states. Beyond banking, AMLA will also guide non-financial sectors such as real estate and legal services through peer reviews, thematic assessments, and mediation when national authorities diverge.
Looking ahead, Bacci confirmed that AMLA is rapidly staffing up — aiming for full operational capability by 2028. The first public consultations on technical standards are expected in 2026, prioritizing practical, proportionate regulation.
Act – Greg Spapiro (Comedian, Author, Speaker, Coach)
To end our event on a very joyful note, comedian Greg Shapiro performed his act “The American Netherlander’s view on AML and on the Netherlands at large”. As the formal sessions drew to a close, Irene returned to the stage to reflect on five years of Leaders in Finance AML events. “It started with a small idea—bringing people together who care about integrity—and look where we are now,” she said.
She thanked all partners and attendees for building a community grounded in trust and collaboration, highlighting contributions from Deloitte, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Nice Actimize, SAS, Lepaya, DPA, and the Dutch Banking Association.
The day concluded with networking drinks. Conversations centered on shared challenges and future cooperation under AMLA. The prevailing sentiment was one of cautious optimism: despite regulatory pressure and operational strain, there was a clear sense that the AML community is moving forward together.
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