GRA · Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

Spatial financeWhere capital meets hazard, exposure and transition

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

Financial crime controls, fraud patterns, institutional integrity and protection of customers. Financial Crime and Fraud Risk is an established platform of The Global Risks Alliance.

STEM methods
5
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
8
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
10
Platforms in shared fields across the network
Report series
1
Reports series it contributes to
01Canvas

How the work runs.

Systems · around this subjectIllustrative

Alert triage and investigations

Bank B monitoring · Today

  • Alerts today
    1896
  • Escalated to cases
    7pct of alerts
  • Open cases older than 30 days
    82Watch
  • Reports filed this month
    68Normal
Backlog above targetGRA · Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

Alert queue

  1. HRapid in-out through new accountsScenario TM-07 · score 892 h
  2. MTrade invoice price outlierScenario TB-03 · score 729 h
  3. MStructuring below thresholdScenario TM-02 · score 645 h
  4. LName match, sanctions listLikely false positive2 h

Counterparty network, case CS-7052

red: accounts under review

Case path

  1. Alertscenario
  2. Triageanalyst
  3. Investigatecase
  4. DecideMLRO
  5. Reportto FIU
  6. Feedbacktuning
Alert triage and investigations: the screen’s structure, terms and states for Bank B monitoring.Example names and illustrative values; a design, not a record or a live system.

Fig.Alert triage and investigations: example names and illustrative values, not a record or a live system.

02The problem

Crime that exploits trust at the speed of payments.

Financial crime takes many forms: fraud that deceives customers or institutions, money laundering that disguises the proceeds of crime, the financing of terrorism, evasion of sanctions, and corruption. They share a dependence on the financial system’s core functions, moving value quickly and on trust. As payments have become faster and more digital, criminals have adapted: authorised push payment scams persuade victims to send money themselves, synthetic identities pass onboarding checks, and laundering networks move funds through many accounts and jurisdictions in minutes.

The harms are broad. Victims of fraud and scams lose savings and suffer lasting distress, and older and digitally excluded people are often targeted. Laundering sustains drug trafficking, human trafficking, corruption and other serious crime. Institutions face losses, enforcement and loss of trust. At a system level, financial crime can undermine confidence in payments and markets and distort economies.

Controls are costly and imperfect. Institutions spend heavily on monitoring and compliance, yet much financial crime goes undetected, and controls can exclude legitimate customers, a problem known as de-risking. Each institution sees only part of a criminal network, while criminals exploit the gaps between institutions, sectors and borders. Telecoms, online platforms and technology providers are often where fraud begins, beyond the reach of financial controls alone. Understanding these dynamics requires shared evidence that no single firm can produce.

03Stress test

How a shock to assets becomes a system loss.

The equity the system loses after interbank contagion, against the initial hit, as leverage, interconnection and recovery rates change, the core of a macroprudential stress test. Teaching model with stated illustrative values, not a prediction.

Controls

Fall in external assets
2.0%
Leverage (assets over equity)
10 times
Interbank share of assets
10%
Recovery on interbank claims
40%
Banks in the system
20
Core banks
20% of banks

Readouts

Equity lost to the initial shock
18.0%
Equity lost after contagion
45.0%
Added by contagion (DebtRank)
27.0 points
Banks in default
0
Numbers, methods and sources
RoundSystem equity lost (%)Banks in default
018.000
128.800
235.280
339.170
441.500
542.900
643.740
744.240
844.550
944.730
1044.840
1144.900
1244.940
1344.960
1444.980
1544.990
1644.990
1745.000
1845.000
1945.000
2045.000
2145.000
2245.000
2345.000
2445.000
2545.000
2645.000
2745.000
2845.000
2945.000
3045.000

Methods

  1. DebtRank Battiston and others (2012), Scientific Reports 2:541
  2. Differential DebtRank Bardoscia and others (2015), PLOS ONE 10
  3. Contagion in financial networks Gai and Kapadia (2010), Proc. R. Soc. A 466
  4. Clearing in financial networks Eisenberg and Noe (2001), Management Science 47
  5. Uncertainty fan (parameter Monte Carlo) Spiegelhalter, Pearson and Short (2011), Visualising uncertainty about the future, Science 333
  6. One-at-a-time sensitivity (tornado) Saltelli and others (2008), Global Sensitivity Analysis: The Primer, Wiley

Data

No observed data enters this model: it runs on the teaching values set by the controls, to be replaced with a programme’s own evidence.

How a shock to assets becomes a system loss. Illustrative teaching model: it runs on the values set by the controls, not on measured data. Methods: DebtRank (Battiston and others (2012), Scientific Reports 2:541); Differential DebtRank (Bardoscia and others (2015), PLOS ONE 10); Contagion in financial networks (Gai and Kapadia (2010), Proc. R. Soc. A 466).
05Exposure, loss and capital

What Financial Crime and Fraud Risk means for exposure, loss and capital.

The exposure, loss, scenario and capital views a risk officer, supervisor or ministry of finance would ask for, with the frameworks they report against. Structures follow supervisory and actuarial practice. Values are illustrative: never prices, ratings or advice.

Transmission channels

How a shock in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk reaches credit, market, underwriting, liquidity and operational risk, and feeds back.

Channel structure after the Basel Committee’s work on climate-related risk drivers and transmission channels; links shown are typical paths, not estimated exposures.

Disclosure crosswalk

Where evidence on Financial Crime and Fraud Risk fits the disclosure and prudential frameworks institutions report against.

PillarTCFDISSB IFRS S2Prudential (BCBS, IAIS)Evidence this page can hold
GovernanceBoard oversight of climate-related risksGovernance requirementsGovernance and risk appetite principlesWho owns the risk and how it is escalated
StrategyRisks, opportunities and resilienceScenario analysis and resilienceStrategy and business model principlesScenario design and transmission paths
Risk managementIdentify, assess, manageRisk management processesInternal control and ICAAP or ORSAExposure maps and loss views
Metrics and targetsMetrics used and targets setCross-industry and industry metricsData, metrics and reporting principlesIndicator definitions and units
Sources: the TCFD recommendations, ISSB IFRS S2 and the BCBS and IAIS principles, cited by name; the framework texts are the authority. A crosswalk by pillar. It is not a compliance assessment.
NGFS climate scenarios · Network for Greening the Financial SystemIFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures · ISSBTCFD recommendations · Financial Stability Board TCFDPrinciples for the effective management of climate-related financial risks · Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
06Frameworks

What the work is read against.

The platform does not set standards. It reads its evidence against the frameworks that competent bodies have adopted, so a finding can be placed where a decision-maker already works.

Framework or standardBodyWhat it sets
FATF RecommendationsFinancial Action Task Force (FATF)The global standard for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, including customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, virtual assets and the revised payment transparency recommendation
FATF methodology and mutual evaluationsFinancial Action Task Force and FATF-style regional bodiesAssessment of technical compliance and effectiveness of national systems through peer review
EU anti-money laundering package and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)European UnionA single AML rulebook and a new EU authority to supervise high-risk institutions directly and coordinate national supervisors
Wolfsberg Group principles and guidanceWolfsberg Group of global banksIndustry guidance on correspondent banking, financial crime compliance programmes and payment transparency
Egmont Group principles for information exchangeEgmont Group of Financial Intelligence UnitsRules for secure exchange of financial intelligence between national FIUs
United Nations Security Council sanctions regimesUN Security Council and its sanctions committeesBinding asset freezes and financial restrictions on listed persons and entities that member states implement
Guidelines on sound management of risks related to money laundering and financing of terrorismBasel Committee on Banking SupervisionHow banks integrate ML/TF risk into overall risk management, including group-wide and correspondent banking
FATF guidance on digital identityFinancial Action Task ForceHow digital identity systems can be used for customer due diligence with appropriate assurance levels
07Overview

What Financial Crime and Fraud Risk does.

Financial crime and fraud risk is the risk that financial services are used to steal, launder criminal proceeds or evade sanctions. Global Risks Alliance’s platform explains payments and identity fraud, money laundering, suspicious activity controls, scams, sanctions, cyber-enabled crime and data rights at a general level. It makes no allegations and gives no compliance advice.

Who it serves

Its community

Financial crime analysts; fraud specialists; compliance researchers.

How it works

Its methods

Financial crime typologies; risk controls; evidence quality.

What it produces

Its outputs

Fraud research briefs; financial integrity learning.

08What the platform does

Shared understanding of typologies, controls and evidence.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk is designed to publish fraud research briefs and financial integrity learning. Its methods are financial crime typologies, analysis of risk controls and attention to evidence quality. It serves analysts, fraud and compliance professionals and researchers, as a precompetitive and public-interest effort that informs defence without serving as a guide for crime.

Understand

Typologies

How fraud, laundering and related crimes are carried out, described at a level that informs controls.

Evaluate

Controls

Evidence on which preventive and detective controls work, their costs and their side effects on legitimate customers.

Protect

Rights and data

How financial crime work handles sensitive data, privacy and the rights of customers and the public.

10Coverage

The areas of financial stability this platform takes on.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk studies how criminals use financial services to steal, launder and evade sanctions, and how institutions, supervisors and law enforcement detect and disrupt them. Its pages cover payments and identity fraud, money laundering, suspicious activity reporting, consumer scams, sanctions, cyber-enabled crime and the data rights that limit monitoring, with every source labelled. Global Risks Alliance shares industry understanding; it makes no allegations, does not investigate and gives no legal or compliance advice.

Area

Payments fraud

Card, account-to-account and instant payment fraud, including unauthorised and authorised push payment fraud.

Area

Identity fraud

Stolen, synthetic and impersonated identities used to open accounts, take over accounts and obtain credit.

Area

Money laundering

How criminal proceeds are placed, layered and integrated through banks, payment firms, trade and virtual assets.

Area

Suspicious activity controls

Customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, reporting to financial intelligence units and their effectiveness.

Area

Consumer scams

Investment, romance, impersonation and purchase scams that manipulate victims into sending money.

Area

Sanctions

Financial sanctions regimes, screening, ownership and control, and evasion through intermediaries.

Area

Cyber-enabled crime

Ransomware payments, business email compromise, account takeover and the laundering of crypto-asset proceeds.

Area

Data and rights

Privacy, information sharing, de-risking and the rights of customers affected by financial crime controls.

11Grounding

Built on named science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Every claim on Financial Crime and Fraud Risk rests on methods with a canonical page in the STEM Commons, so readers can see what a finding depends on and where its limits lie.

Artificial intelligence and machine learningNetwork science and contagionData engineering, interoperability and stewardshipDigital identity and public digital systemsDistributed ledgers and digital assets

See the STEM foundation of Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

12Cycle

How work moves in this field.

A question becomes evidence, a governed build, an organised community, a controlled test, a reviewed publication and, finally, a decision taken by the competent authority under its own rules.

  1. Question Universe National, regional or institutional priority. Question in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  2. Evidence Foundry STEM foundation of the platform. Evidence in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  3. Build Foundry Foundry. Build in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  4. Organise Universe Nexus ecosystem. Organise in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  5. Test Universe Universe (independent site). Test in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  6. Publish Reports Reports. Publish in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  7. Decide Competent authority Competent authorities and institutions, through NXS-RLS (participants, agreements and handoffs). Decide in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk
  8. Renew Universe Corrections and the next annual agenda. Renew in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

Each step of the cycle in the pillar it runs in; the decision stays with the competent authority, outside the programme.

13Six pillars

How this works across the six pillars.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk works through six pillars of one annual programme, led by the Nexus Consortium, with the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI), the Global Risks Forum (GRF) and GRA each contributing in its role: explore, experiment and prototype in Labs, build, simulate and prepare in Foundry, convene and test in Universe, codify, correct and apply in Nexus Standards, publish in every format in Reports, teach in the open in Risk Academy.

Select pillars · hover lines18 / 18 handoffs

Route

The whole programme

Every pillar hands its work to another; together they close the year’s feedback loops.

L · F · U · S · R · A

Pillars
6 of 6
Handoffs
18 of 18
Loops
17 closed

Handoffs in play

  • F01Universe → Foundry · Admitted mission becomes a cycle project with a decision caseReadiness preparation
  • F02Foundry → Universe · Core Build Report and go or no-go evidenceControlled build
  • F03Foundry → Reports · Sealed observations and indicator series behind a profileCloseout
  • F04Universe → Reports · After-action and scenario findings for chapters 10 and 13After-action review

and 14 more

F01 to F14 are the recorded handoffs of the programme year, each with the artefact that moves and its phase; R1, R2, R3 and R4 carry work around the ring. A loop counts when every pillar on it is selected. Every pillar is led by the Nexus Consortium.
  1. LabsWhere questions become experiments and prototypes: new methods, data and tools are tried in the open, with their limits on record, before the Foundry builds them, under the Nexus Consortium.Labs
  2. FoundryWhere exposure and scenario evidence is built so supervisors, insurers and investors can read it.Financial Crime and Fraud Risk in FoundryFoundry
  3. UniverseWhere scenarios are tested in controlled exercises, and finance-readiness dialogues read what they mean for capital and cover.Financial Crime and Fraud Risk in Universeuniverse.nexus
  4. Nexus StandardsWhere disclosure and data rules are codified so risk evidence is comparable for finance and insurance.Finance, Insurance and the Economy in Standardsnexustandards.com
  5. ReportsWhere sector analysis and the finance and insurance readiness series are published, with exposure and limits stated.Financial Crime and Fraud Risk in ReportsReports
  6. Risk AcademyWhere finance, insurance and public-finance professionals learn to read risk evidence, on Risk Academy.Faculty of Finance and Economics in Academyrisksacademy.com
17Questions

Questions and answers.

Who publishes Financial Crime and Fraud Risk?
The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) publishes Financial Crime and Fraud Risk and is responsible for what it publishes. GRA is a nonprofit business league for the financial services industry. It does not lend, underwrite, rate, invest, advise on or arrange transactions, and readiness work is not approval.
Is Financial Crime and Fraud Risk active?
Financial Crime and Fraud Risk is an established platform of The Global Risks Alliance. Information and enquiries are open today. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.
How can I contribute?
Start with the participation paths or write to the contact form. An enquiry receives a reference; it does not create membership, a role or an assignment.
Where are findings published?
Reviewed outputs appear on the publications page, and contributions to the Reports series are listed on Publish in Reports.
Which values on this platform are real?
Indicator names, units, sources, methods and frameworks are real. Levels in figures and canvases are examples in a design. A programme replaces them with labelled evidence it owns.
How do I report an error?
Use corrections and concerns, or write to the integrity concern form. A correction is recorded as a new version, never a silent edit.
Can GRA help me recover money lost to fraud?
No. Contact your bank or payment provider immediately, and report the crime to the police or the national fraud reporting service. GRA does not handle individual cases.
Does the platform share information about suspects between firms?
No. GRA is not a law enforcement body, financial intelligence unit or regulator. It does not investigate cases, receive reports of suspicious activity, screen customers or hold customer data. Any information-sharing between institutions happens under the law and the institutions’ own arrangements, not through GRA.
ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

Global Risks AllianceFinancial Crime and Fraud RiskEvidence Brief
How it works

How Financial Crime and Fraud Risk works.

Choose a view and press Play to follow the platform’s process, its programme year, the standards it applies and how its findings are published. The outline shows how the work is designed to run, not the status of any decision.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

How Financial Crime and Fraud Risk works

Platforms · Programme year · Standards · Reports

A platform joins a field to named methods, labelled evidence and the outputs it publishes, without becoming the authority it serves.

  1. 01 Scope

    1. 01Field and familiesStart · The platform leadThe home states the field, its families and who it serves.
    2. 02Topic dossiersRecord · Platform authorsTopics explain the subject with labelled evidence.
  2. 02 Evidence

    1. 03Evidence labelsRecord · GCRIEach value is labelled: observed, published statistics, estimated, modelled, scenario or unknown.
    2. 04MethodsStep · Method ownersMethods come from the STEM Commons, each with one canonical page.
  3. 03 Work

    1. 05Scenarios on the systemsModel · Foundry pillarScenarios run on the Nexus systems, labelled as scenario.
    2. 06Standards that applyRecord · Nexus StandardsThe platform names the standards that apply. A validator report is evidence for review.
  4. 04 Publish

    1. 07EditionsRecord · ReportsFindings are published through Reports with their limits.
    2. 08Authority decidesOutcome · The competent authorityDecisions and execution stay with the government, operator or licensed institution.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk home · Platforms · Shared methodsAn outline of how the work is designed to run; it does not report the status of any decision or record.

Take part

Take part in Financial Crime and Fraud Risk.

Start from who you are. Answer an open call. Or form and lead a competence cell on the Financial Crime and Fraud Risk platform.

Route

National institutions

Ministries, statistics offices and agencies: a national desk and chapter, and a seat in the working groups. National chapters

Route

Sectors and professions

Operators, regulators, banks, insurers and professional bodies whose work touches Financial Crime and Fraud Risk. Participate

Route

Learning

Courses and practice, with a record of every course completed. Free to study. Open learning

Route

Standards

Draft, review and adopt the methods and data standards with the working groups. Working groups

Route

Communities and research

Universities, civil society and individual experts: projects, data and review. Write to the team

The Global Risks Index

Every figure on this page is indexed: hazards, climate, conflict, the world.

The Index is the Consortium’s indexing system for risk data. Every indicator, hazard, series and country profile carries its Nexus Standards identifier, its source and its licence, so what this page shows can be traced, corrected and reused.

  1. 01 · Sources205 registered sourcesEvery value keeps its source and licence; withheld values are counted.Data and licences
  2. 02 · Nexus StandardsNIS-1 and NHS-1451 indicators, 905 hazards; every record carries a UNI.Nexus Standards
  3. 03 · The Index54 series, 195 country profilesComputed on the standards; no value is published until an edition is released.The Global Risks Index
  4. 04 · This pageFinancial Crime and Fraud RiskMaps, figures and feeds read the Index in the context of hazards, climate, conflict.Public API
Sources205registered, each with its licence
Indicators451NIS-1, 106 composites, 20 domain indices
Hazards905NHS-1, crosswalked to UNDRR-ISC HIPs
Series54global, sector, strategic, technology, thematic
Country profiles195one site per country

Series in this context hazards, climate, conflict

  1. GLBGlobal SystemsThe state of interdependent global risk: the twenty domain indices aggregated to the world, the five core systems (water, energy, food, health, biodiversity) and their couplings, the global tail register and the gap…NXS-GRX-AR-000002Hazards · Climate · Conflict
  2. THDisaster Risk Intelligence (DRI)Signals, observations, event streams, geospatial layers and scenario packs turned into structured risk intelligence for preparedness and planning.NXS-GRX-AR-000111Hazards · Climate · Conflict
  3. GSGlobal CitiesUrban exposure, heat, flooding, informal settlement, service dependency and the economic weight of cities at risk.NXS-GRX-AR-000068Hazards · Infrastructure · Climate
  4. GSGlobal ClimateChronic and acute physical climate hazard, transition exposure, adaptation gaps and scenario pathways to 2030, 2050 and 2100.NXS-GRX-AR-000065Climate · Hazards · Finance

All 54 series · The 20 domain indices

Country profiles the world

Every country profile carries the source and licence of each value. Correct a value or reply

Hazard domains NHS-1

Geodata and API open

Open layers on an equal-area hexagon grid, shown as densities per km² or as symbols: People · GHSL 2025People · WorldPop 2025Built-up areaPortsAirportsRoadsRailwaysRivers and lake centrelines

/api/v1/public/grix · https://nexustandards.com/uni/{uni}
Developers · Data · Made with Natural Earth, Public domain; GHSL and WorldPop, CC BY 4.0

Snapshot of the Index registries pinned 2026-10-23 · 22c6eed. Research and risk-analytics information: not a rating, an official classification, a warning, a benchmark or advice.

Financial Crime and Fraud Risk

Bring an exposure or capital question to the Alliance.

Information and enquiries are open today. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.

The Global Risks Alliance

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