For nearly 20 years I worked for various public sector agencies helping others to better understand the nature of financial crime threats to the UK, its institutions and citizens. Working closely with law enforcement, security agencies, international regulators and prosecutors, we highlighted the threats posed by criminals, nation states and malicious actors who repeatedly tested our resilience by adopting innovative methods and schemes. My belief is that an intelligence-led approach can also be deployed by financial crime compliance (FCC) professionals, moving away from a ‘tick-box’ approach to compliance whilst helping to manage legal, regulatory and reputational risks, with some assistance from the authorities. Organisations are realising they don’t only need to meet regulatory requirements, they also need to have a finger on the pulse of financial crime to satisfy the increasing demand for firms to adopt a proactive stance in the face of the exponential growth in financial crime.