Client KYC: anti-money laundering regimes and outlook for 2026

Caroline Berube is the Managing Partner of HJM Asia Law (with offices in China and Singapore). She is admitted to the New York Bar, the Singapore Bar, holds a BCL (civil law) and an LL.B. (common law) from McGill University in Montreal and studied Chinese law at the National University of Singapore. Caroline has been working in Asia for more than 27 years with SMEs, MNCs and foreign banks, advising them in the field of commercial law, intellectual property, human resources and M&A in the Asia Pacific region. With an extensive presence on the ground in Asia for 27 years. Caroline is well versed in the opportunities and risks associated with most Asian jurisdictions.

With nearly 20 years of experience as a pragmatic business lawyer, I am passionate about solving the legal challenges that companies face every day. I have been a trusted advisor for senior executives in various sectors, including financial services, insurance, and cooperative movement. As the Director legal affairs, Investments and Deputy Corporate Secretary at Fonds de solidarité FTQ, I oversee the governance, legal operations, and corporate secretariat functions of one of Canada's largest development capital networks. I have a proven track record of leading complex and strategic M&A transactions, negotiating contracts and agreements, ensuring legal compliance and risk management, and advising on intellectual property and technology law matters. I hold a B.C.L./LL.B. from McGill University, an LL.M. in Information Technology Law from Université de Montréal, and a graduate certificate in a microprogram in business management from Université de Sherbrooke. I am a deal junkie, an excellent communicator, and a team player who values collaboration, innovation, and social responsibility. I am also passionate about legal operations and dedicated to transforming legal departments to embrace the future of legal practice by enhancing their efficiency.

Arturo Banegas Masiá is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group of Akerman. He has extensive experience in corporate, finance, and restructuring transactions, with an emphasis on cross-border business strategies, leveraged acquisition financing, transactional finance matters in distressed settings, out-of-court restructurings, and liability management transactions. Arturo has a long standing career in technology related matters. Prior to joining Akerman, he served as senior counsel for a leading wireless technology company, where he was responsible for mobile payments, carrier billing, and mCommerce and eCommerce initiatives.

Hin Han is a Hong Kong qualified lawyer and Solicitor Advocate practicing in the telecommunications, media and technology group at a international law firm. Hin Han Shum has experience in mergers and acquisitions, setting up company start-ups, and company restructuring. Keeping abreast of technological developments, she has given practical solutions to clients in relation to cybersecurity, data collection and data breach matters, and has advised clients on legal compliance relating to new technological tools contemplated by clients in their bid to build their businesses. Having served as a legal representative in various litigation proceedings and being an accredited general mediator, Hin Han is familiar with the common fundamental issues leading to disputes and often assists to curb risks of those at the onset during the contract preparation stage. She has been seconded to an international securities firm and an international telecommunications company, to assist their in-house legal teams with each company’s day-to-day operations and major legal transactions and cases. These experiences have allowed her to further develop a pragmatic commercial approach to solve issues that arise in business operations. Hin Han also has experience with handling a range of criminal cases, including white collar criminal cases, both as a legal representative to defendants and to clients in reporting cases to authorities. She is also on the panel as a prosecutor on fiat for the Department of Justice. Hin Han is currently an Officer of the International Bar Association (IBA) Membership Officer of the IBA Young Lawyer’s Committee. She was formerly the Young Lawyer Liaison Office of the IBA Professional Ethics Committee and IBA Online Services Committee, and Anti-Corruption Committee. She is a Chairman of the Appeals Tribunal (Buildings) and she also serves as a member on the Standing Committee on External Affairs, Anti-Money Laundering Committee, Arbitration Committee and Mediation Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong. She publishes widely on topics including data privacy, technology related issues, anti-money laundering rules, and labour and discrimination matters. She has also authored data privacy practical guidance content for LexisNexis, and has contributed to the Annotated Ordinances of Hong Kong, and to the Butterworths Hong Kong Partnership Handbook. She has been a speaker at international conferences and risk management tutor on topics such as data privacy and blockchain, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity risks. She also serves as a member on the Standing Committee on External Affairs, Anti-Money Laundering Committee, Arbitration Committee, and Mediation Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong.

Neil is a partner in the Business Crime & Investigations team at Peters & Peters Solicitors LLP. He has a great deal of experience advising individual and corporate clients concerned with investigations by law enforcement and regulatory authorities, both domestic and overseas. He is a regular speaker on corruption, fraud and corporate criminal liability. Neil advises individual and corporate clients on investigation, prosecution and enforcement action taken by the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority and HM Revenue & Customs. He has considerable experience advising key participants in high-profile and international financial crime and corruption cases, often as part of multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional teams. His advice is frequently sought at an early stage, and he has extensive experience counselling individuals during internal investigations being carried out by their employer. He also advises individuals who are or may be the subject of INTERPOL notices or extradition proceedings, arising from investigations overseas. He also advises professional firms about their regulatory obligations, both from a risk management perspective and in response to requests from law enforcement. Neil is recognised by Legal 500 in several categories, and is particularly noted for his SFO work, having successfully defended clients in several high-profile investigations by the agency, as well as for his expertise in business crime and investigations, criminal tax fraud and civil cases and for leading on the regulatory front for contentious financial services work. In Chambers, a client says "Neil Swift is one of my go-to lawyers in the white-collar crime space. He is knowledgeable, pragmatic and very cool in his approach. He understands the law, and is clear on where we stand and good at explaining things". Clients mentioned that "Neil Swift is instructed in high-value and complicated POCA proceedings", and that he "is an exceptional lawyer." Neil is ranked in Band 4 in Chambers High Net Worth Guide 2023 (Financial Crime: High Net Worth Individuals), with the guide noting that he "is a calm and quiet presence but has real thought leadership" and that he "is a very experienced lawyer". In Who’s Who Legal, peers said they “very much rate” Neil as a go-to business crime defence lawyer. In recognition of his client skills, Neil won the Lexology Client Choice award for Business Crime in 2022. Neil was a contributing author to Blackstone's Guide to the Bribery Act 2010 and gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Bribery Act in 2018. He is a frequent speaker, writer and commentator on fraud, corporate crime, corruption and money laundering. He is regularly ranked in leading legal directories.