AML Network

AML Authors

Everything the Network publishes — database entries, news coverage, regulatory summaries and long-form reports — is produced by a mixed group of staff editors and outside contributors. This page sets out who those contributors are, the standards they work to, how their interests are disclosed, and how readers can question or correct what appears here.

Who writes for the Network

Contributors fall into four broad groups. Most pieces are the work of one of them; the larger investigations usually combine several.

  • Staff editors. They commission, verify and edit everything published under the Network's name, and maintain the entries in the Watchdog Databases. Editors remain accountable for material they did not write.
  • Investigative journalists. Reporters working on financial crime, beneficial ownership, sanctions evasion and procurement, generally commissioned piece by piece. Much of the Watchdog Reports series originates here.
  • Compliance practitioners. Current and former money laundering reporting officers, financial crime analysts, sanctions officers and investigators, who write mainly on the operational reality of screening, transaction monitoring, customer due diligence and suspicious activity reporting.
  • Academic and civil society contributors. Researchers in law, economics and criminology, and staff at anti-corruption and transparency organisations, who tend to write on typologies, methodology and the evidence base behind policy.

The standards contributors work to

One standard applies to all four groups, and to a single-line database entry as much as to a ten-thousand-word report.

  • Documented, not asserted. Statements about companies and individuals rest on filings, registers, court records, regulatory notices, procurement data or documents held on file. Where a source cannot be described, the limits of what is known are stated in the text.
  • Precise legal status. An allegation, an open investigation, a charge, a settlement without admission of liability and a conviction are distinguished throughout. A sanctions designation or a supervisory penalty is an administrative measure, not a criminal finding, and is described as such.
  • Regulation described accurately. References to the FATF recommendations, the EU's AMLD and AMLR framework, the US Bank Secrecy Act or the UK Money Laundering Regulations describe what those instruments actually require, and note where an obligation arises from national implementation, supervisory guidance or industry practice rather than from the instrument itself.
  • A second reading. Nothing is published on one person's judgement. Every article and database entry is read by an editor who was not involved in the reporting.

Bylines, affiliations and disclosure

Every piece carries a named byline and, where the contributor writes regularly, a short standing biography. Contributors write in a personal capacity: their employer's position is not the Network's, and the Network's is not their employer's. Anonymity is granted only where a named byline would create a credible risk to the writer, and only with the agreement of editors who know the writer's identity.

A disclosure note at the foot of the piece records anything a reader might reasonably weigh, including:

  • paid employment, consultancy or advisory work with an entity discussed, or with its advisers or close competitors
  • holdings or other financial interests affected by the subject matter
  • prior professional involvement in a matter described — having advised on, audited, investigated or litigated it
  • the funding source for any research the piece draws on

The Network takes no payment from the subjects of its coverage. Where a contributor cannot disclose a relevant relationship because of confidentiality or contractual restrictions, the piece is not commissioned.

How to pitch

Pitches go to support@amlreview.co. A short outline is more useful than a finished draft, since most commissions change shape in discussion with an editor. Include:

  • the central claim, in two or three sentences
  • the documents or datasets you hold or can obtain, and where they came from
  • the jurisdictions and the regulatory framework in play
  • why the piece is timely — a filing, a designation, a rule change, a court listing
  • your relevant experience and any interests that would require disclosure

The Network does not publish sponsored content, client-placed contributed articles, or material intended to serve litigation, reputation management or a commercial dispute. Correspondence from a representative acting for a subject of coverage is treated as a statement for consideration, not as a submission.

Corrections and right of reply

Errors are corrected openly. A substantive correction appears as a dated note at the foot of the piece stating what was wrong and what has changed; the original wording is not quietly replaced. Typographical and formatting fixes are made without a note. Where a Watchdog Databases entry is amended, the amendment and its date are recorded against the entry.

Before publishing an adverse claim about a named individual or organisation, the Network puts the substance of it to them and allows a reasonable period for a response. Replies received after publication are appended in full or fairly summarised. Corrections, right-of-reply requests and complaints about a contributor's conduct or undisclosed interests should be sent to support@amlreview.co, and are handled by an editor who did not commission the work in question.