November 2025 Summaries

Luana Romero is a prominent figure in compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) efforts in Latin America, particularly in Brazil, where she has significantly contributed to the evolution of regulatory practices. With over 15 years of experience, including work on Operation Lava Jato, Romero emphasizes the importance of integrity in the crypto and fintech ecosystems, viewing her role as crucial in ensuring transparency and credibility. She highlights the advances in regulations, such as Brazil's legal framework for crypto assets and collaboration with central banks to build effective supervision systems. Despite progress, she identifies challenges like regulatory fragmentation, insufficient supervision, and the need for technical resources in various regions. Romero advocates for continuous education, technological integration, and a unified approach to AML and fraud prevention, stressing the necessity for compliance officers to simplify complex concepts for broader understanding. She is committed to democratizing knowledge to foster a secure and equitable financial environment, underscoring the synergy between ethics and technological advancements in combating financial crimes.

Martín Perucca, a renowned authority on fraud prevention in Argentina and Latin America, emphasizes the importance of integrating security as a core value proposition for organizations, arguing that it not only protects against losses but also enhances community value. Beginning his career in Córdoba, Argentina, Perucca discovered his passion for fraud detection early on, which led to co-founding Mooy, focusing on regulatory compliance and fraud prevention strategies. He advocates for a proactive, culture-building approach to compliance, emphasizing that it should not be seen as a mere checkbox but as an investment that can improve customer trust and organizational reputation. Perucca stresses the necessity of a comprehensive, risk-based approach to fraud prevention, involving technology, secure processes, and a prevention culture that unites fraud, cybersecurity, and AML strategies. He highlights the importance of collaboration among financial institutions, noting that while real collaboration is growing in Latin America, more needs to be done to standardize fraud prevention as a value proposition industry-wide. Looking to the future, Perucca hopes for increased dialogue between the public and private sectors and stronger criminal legislation to better address fraud's complexities.

Juliana Braz, who leads International Business Development at Serpro, Brazil's federal technology backbone, has played a pivotal role in advancing digital identity and fraud prevention, notably transforming Brazil's driver's license into the Digital CNH. Her work focuses on treating identity as a public good, emphasizing "security by design" by using biometrics and tokenization to enhance trust, while ensuring compliance with Brazil's data privacy laws (LGPD) and fostering inclusivity in technology access. She advocates for the Gov.br platform's graduated assurance model to build scalable trust, while addressing vulnerabilities such as synthetic identities and social engineering by enhancing organizational culture and training. Despite successes, challenges persist due to legacy systems and siloed data, which complicate the creation of a unified identity history. Looking forward, Juliana envisions a CPF-anchored ecosystem advancing towards Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), with Serpro serving as Brazil's sovereign trust layer and real-time anti-fraud intelligence hub, ensuring secure, efficient, and inclusive access to government services.

Alan Poyatos, Chief Compliance Officer at BitBase, is a prominent figure in Spain's crypto ecosystem, leveraging his legal background and early Bitcoin investment to advocate for well-crafted regulation that builds consumer trust and drives business growth. At BitBase, he oversees a hybrid business model combining physical stores and ATMs with an online presence to cater to customers who prefer human support. Poyatos emphasizes the importance of proportionate regulation, such as MiCA, to ensure consumer value and increase transparency while acknowledging the challenges of balancing compliance with innovation. He highlights the necessity of crypto in Latin America as opposed to its investment-driven nature in Europe and stresses the importance of robust fraud prevention measures against deepfakes and social engineering. Poyatos sees regulation as added value rather than a barrier, believing it fosters trust and reduces irresponsible practices, although he notes that high compliance costs can deter small entrepreneurs. Looking forward, he envisions mass adoption of crypto, where buying everyday items with digital currency becomes commonplace, and encourages those interested in crypto compliance to embrace the dynamic and evolving landscape.

Juan Oliveros, an AML Specialist at Cuatrecasas, leverages his background in Law and Business Administration to navigate the complexities of anti-money laundering (AML) within the cryptocurrency sector. His journey into the field began at Onyze, a digital asset custodian, influenced by a friend involved in significant crypto projects. Oliveros emphasizes the transparency offered by blockchain technology, which allows the tracing of transactions back to their source, a key advantage in preventing illicit activities. Since starting his role in February 2021, he has witnessed significant regulatory changes, with crypto companies evolving from unregulated entities to those requiring compliance with stricter standards, such as those set by the FATF and the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). He advocates for robust Know Your Customer (KYC) processes as essential to combating money laundering and believes that while regulations like MiCA and the Travel Rule enhance legal certainty, traditional financial institutions must adapt to integrate crypto services effectively. Oliveros sees the future of AML regulations expanding to include new entities and covering areas like NFTs and decentralized finance, which he considers the next major financial revolution.

Judit Pino, a regulatory compliance expert, emphasizes the evolving challenges and opportunities in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) within the real estate sector, highlighting the role of analysts as investigative "detectives" uncovering hidden financial activities. She notes that while large banks can invest in advanced compliance technologies, smaller real estate entities often lack resources, making accessible tools like Didit crucial for their compliance efforts. Pino discusses the real estate sector's reputation for being vulnerable to money laundering, arguing that this is due to insufficient tools and support for small operators rather than inherent weaknesses. The increased regulation and new directives, such as the 6th AMLD6 Directive, are driving greater compliance awareness, necessitating investment in processes and technology. While tokenization and crypto platforms present opportunities, they also pose money laundering risks, underscoring the ongoing need for robust customer identification and regulatory adaptation. Pino foresees a future where the real estate compliance landscape becomes more global, digital, and demanding, with concentration among larger players and increased pressure on smaller operators to adapt.

Fernando Ramos, Partner and Chief Legal Officer at Bit2Me and founder of Data Bitlaw & Compliance, has transitioned from a traditional legal career to a leading role in blockchain and cryptocurrency regulation. With a background in tech-focused law practice, Fernando has been pivotal in navigating the evolving regulatory landscape of digital assets, particularly in Spain, where he has been instrumental in drafting AML and KYC manuals since 2015. He highlights the challenges and progress in Spain's regulatory framework compared to other European countries, noting the need for more institutional support and the difficulties of integrating blockchain technology with existing compliance requirements, such as GDPR. He sees potential in innovations like self-sovereign identity and the tokenization of real estate, which could transform compliance and investment landscapes. Despite regulatory challenges, Fernando advises entrepreneurs to leverage existing authorized entities and seek robust legal guidance to effectively manage the complexities of launching blockchain projects.

Mariona Pericas Estrada is a prominent expert in financial regulation and digital assets, focusing particularly on crypto assets and blockchain technology. With a background in law and business administration, she has over nine years of experience advising financial institutions and now serves as director and principal associate at finReg360. Her expertise, especially in payment services regulations and the emerging Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, has earned her recognition in the fintech industry. MiCA represents a significant regulatory shift aimed at providing more guarantees and confidence to investors by mandating asset segregation, licensing, and supervision for crypto service providers. Mariona asserts that while current regulations may pose challenges for compliance in the crypto sector, they ultimately enhance public perception and attract talent and investment. She also highlights that blockchain technology could revolutionize various sectors by reducing intermediaries and automating processes, although its full potential depends on how traditional entities adapt. Additionally, Mariona discusses the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), emphasizing its role in ensuring the digital resilience of financial institutions through robust contingency plans and cybersecurity measures. Despite concerns about excessive regulation stifling innovation, she believes that regulatory frameworks are essential for stability and consumer protection, and anticipates future challenges in regulating artificial intelligence within financial services.

Didit emerges as a more cost-effective and comprehensive alternative to FacePhi for identity verification, offering services at $0.30 per check compared to FacePhi's estimated $1-3+ per check, resulting in potential savings of up to 70-90%. Didit provides faster verification with sub-2-second inference, covers 220+ countries and 14,000+ document types, and includes features such as real-time fraud detection, AI agent integration, and a free tier of 500 checks per month. In contrast, FacePhi is noted for its strong facial biometrics but is limited by higher costs, less global coverage, and fewer features. Didit is particularly advantageous for companies seeking speed, extensive fraud detection, and broad coverage without high expenses, making it a favorable choice for startups and businesses aiming for global expansion.

Didit is presented as a superior and more affordable alternative to MetaMap (formerly Mati) for identity verification, offering services at $0.30 per check, which is significantly cheaper than MetaMap's custom pricing. Didit boasts faster verification speeds under two seconds, extensive global coverage across 220+ countries, and support for 14,000+ document types and 48+ languages. Additionally, Didit provides 500 free checks per month with no contracts, advanced fraud detection with 200+ real-time signals, and a comprehensive developer experience featuring an MCP server for AI integration and public API documentation. While MetaMap is noted for its strong LATAM database connections, it lacks many of the features Didit offers, such as NFC chip reading, active liveness, and extensive global coverage, making Didit a more compelling choice for companies seeking cost-effective, fast, and versatile identity verification solutions.

Connecting Didit with Zapier allows businesses to automate identity verification processes efficiently without requiring coding expertise, streamlining KYC flows to validate users, notify results, and update systems automatically. This integration significantly enhances user experience by reducing onboarding friction and ensures regulatory compliance through traceable records. Didit, a modular identity verification platform, integrates seamlessly with Zapier—an automation tool recognized for enabling no-code workflows across over 6,000 apps—thereby allowing companies like fintech, crypto platforms, and digital services to scale verifications and cut operational costs. The guide demonstrates how to set up these automated workflows simply and securely, emphasizing the importance of using no-code tools for rapid scaling, improving approval rates, and maintaining data integrity.