AFB Sponsored Roundtable: Digitising Business-Wide Risk Assessments – Making BWRAs Fit for Today’s Risks

AFB members are invited to attend an in-person roundtable discussion on the practicalities of building and maintaining effective Business-Wide Risk Assessments (BWRAs), and why digitising these processes is increasingly critical.  

The roundtable, sponsored by BeyondFS, will consider the key principles of risk assessments, where firms often go wrong, and how new approaches and technologies can help move beyond static, manual processes. We’ll also consider how the latest regulatory and legislative developments are raising expectations around how well firms understand, document and evidence their financial crime risks.

Why attend?

 This facilitated discussion will cover:

•       What good looks like: clearly documented methodologies, scoring approaches, and reporting frameworks that genuinely support senior management
•       Common pitfalls: outdated Excel heatmaps, inconsistent risk tables, gaps in data and evidence, and once-a-year exercises that quickly go stale
•       The shift to digital: how tools like Arctic and ComplyLens, combined with smarter perpetual KYC strategies, can make risk assessments more dynamic, reliable, and easier to defend to regulators
•       Preparing for what’s next: how to incorporate emerging risks such as fraud into your BWRA framework in a way that stands up to scrutiny

AFB will circulate an agenda and a series of questions to attendees in advance, which will be used to aid the discussions.

The Chatham House Rule will apply to this event to encourage open dialogue and discussion.

There will be refreshments and networking from 08:30 before the roundtable discussion commences at 09:00.

Please note there will be a limit of one representative from each AFB member to allow a wider range of firms to attend and benefit from the discussion.

Who should attend?

Compliance, Risk, and Financial Crime teams/specialists at AFB member banks who want practical insight into how to make BWRAs both more robust and easier to run.

Facilitator

Adrian Barnett, Director at BeyondFS

Adrian has over 20 years’ experience as a financial crime prevention risk expert.  His work has spanned across industry (1LOD operations / 2LOD compliance) and consulting in leadership roles across different financial services sectors and geographies.  He is dedicated to helping firms strengthen financial crime and risk frameworks. Adrian specialises in AML/KYC, sanctions and fraud risks, and leads our FC Advisory & Regulatory Response practice, turning complex requirements into practical, efficient operating models.

Logistics

Fee:          Included in AFB membership

Format:     In-person at ING Bank, 8-10 Moorgate, London EC2R 6DA

Date:        Thursday 18 September 2025

Time:        09:00 – 10:30 (arrival & refreshments from 08:30)

If you would like to submit a question or have any specific areas that you would like the session to address, please send them to AFB at secretariat@foreignbanks.org.uk  You will receive details on how to join this session a week before the event.

Sponsored by

BeyondFS helps banks build financial crime programmes that work. We turn around stalled initiatives, close regulatory gaps and create high-performing operations – all delivered by small, senior teams who’ve done it before. We focus on getting the essentials right: robust controls, efficient processes and reliable data. That way, programmes meet regulatory expectations, run cost-effectively, and give customers a smoother experience.

Whether it’s a health check, a Section 166 response, or a complete redesign of AML and KYC frameworks, we bring the clarity, discipline and hands-on delivery needed to fix problems and build lasting capability.

Learn more on the BeyondFS website