Why compliance urgency is rising across LATAM
Latin America’s banking sector is undergoing unprecedented regulatory evolution, driven by FATF evaluation cycles, fintech expansion, digital identity mandates, and increasing international scrutiny of AML/CFT effectiveness.
Regional Regulatory Priorities
Regulatory timelines across LATAM are accelerating — institutions are expected to demonstrate operational effectiveness, not just regulatory intent.
Digital Transformation Mandates
- Biometric national ID integration (Mexico CURP, Brazil CPF, Colombia Registro Civil)
- Remote onboarding authorization with video KYC and facial recognition
- Fintech-specific regulatory frameworks creating innovation sandboxes
- Mobile-first banking infrastructure responding to high smartphone penetration
AML/CFT Intensification
- Beneficial ownership transparency requirements (typically 25% threshold)
- Real-time transaction monitoring with reporting windows varying by jurisdiction (24 hours for urgent/concrete evidence cases, 60 days for standard suspicious activity reports)
- Enhanced PEPs screening for domestic and foreign politically exposed persons
- Cross-border transaction monitoring addressing remittance flows and trade-based money laundering
Fraud Prevention Frameworks
- Mandatory fraud management programs with board-level oversight
- User-defined transaction limits with enhanced authentication
- Cybersecurity incident reporting (24–48 hour notification)
- Synthetic identity and account takeover prevention
Key Regional Compliance Challenges
- Aggressive regulatory implementation deadlines
- Multi-regulator coordination complexity (Central Banks, FIUs, Data Protection Authorities)
- National database integration at scale with varying maturity levels across jurisdictions (population registries, tax authorities, immigration)
- Legacy system modernization requirements
- FATF evaluation preparation demonstrating practical effectiveness
- Balancing financial inclusion with robust KYC/AML controls
Facephi Capabilities Aligned to LATAM Regulatory Requirements
Designed to support compliance operations across multiple jurisdictions, with localized integrations and audit-ready controls.
Localized Compliance Expertise
Facephi powers Latin American institutions through complex regulatory transitions, addressing region-specific requirements including biometric national ID integration, real-time suspicious activity reporting
Regional Capabilities
Biometric National ID Integration
Technical capability to connect with RENAPO (Mexico), RENIEC (Peru), Registraduría Nacional (Colombia), RG (Brazil
Document Verification
INE, DNI, Cédula recognition with OCR and security feature detection
AML Screening
FIU integration for real-time reporting (UIF Mexico, UIAF Colombia, COAF Brazil)
Transaction Monitoring
Configurable thresholds for country-specific reporting requirements
Multi-Lingual Support
Spanish and Portuguese language interfaces
Mexico CNBV & LFPIORPI Ahead of FATF 2026 Evaluation
Navigating CNBV & LFPIORPI Ahead of FATF 2026 Evaluation
Critical Regulatory Milestones
Market Context
- Latin America’s 2nd largest banking sector
- 91M mobile banking users (+11.2% annually)
- 650+ fintech companies
- Recent US FinCEN sanctions raising compliance urgency
Facephi Mexico Solutions
- RENAPO biometric CURP integration
- INE credential verification with OCR
- CNBV fraud framework (6 observable behaviors)
- UIF reporting automation (24-hour urgent reports, 60-day standard suspicious activity)
- MTU real-time transaction controls
Colombia - Priority Market
Superfinanciera Requirements & Digital Transformation
Other LATAM Markets
- Banco Central do Brasil
- COAF integratio
- CPF/CNPJ validation
- PIX fraud monitoring
- CMF supervision
- RUT verification
- digital onboarding frameworks
- SBS oversight
- RENIEC integration
- beneficial ownership registries
- BCRA regulations
- CUIL/CUIT validation
- UIF reporting