Fivecast Collaborates with ACAMS Australasia Chapter
Australia is entering a new era of compliance with Tranche 2 AML/CTF reforms, designed to close gaps exploited by organised crime and align with global FATF standards.
From 1 July 2026, these changes will bring 90,000+ new businesses, including lawyers, accountants, and real estate professionals, under AML obligations.
Who Needs to Comply Right Now?
It’s not just about 2026, thousands of businesses are already under AML/CTF obligations today. These include: Banks and ADIs Remittance providers Foreign exchange businesses Payment service providers (incl. BNPL) Mortgage & finance brokers Gambling/casino operators Bullion/high‑value dealers Digital currency exchanges (VASPs)
Download our Financial Crime Brief to learn how compliance teams can prepare today.
What’s Changing Under Tranche 2?
AUSTRAC’s reforms introduce a risk‑based, outcomes‑oriented approach, simplifying program structure while lifting expectations on risk assessment, CDD, reporting and record‑keeping.
For a detailed breakdown, see “AUSTRAC releases fresh guidance for Tranche 2 AML/CTF entities.”
Why Acting Now Matters
Financial crime costs the Australian economy up to A$69 billion annually, and AUSTRAC penalties can reach A$23 million per breach (AUSTRAC: Consequences of not complying).
Collaboration with ACAMS: Building a Stronger Compliance Community
Our collaboration with ACAMS Australasian Chapter brought together professionals on the front line of AML/CTF compliance across banking, fintech, and high-risk sectors. By working together, we aimed to:
- Share real-world intelligence workflows that support risk-based compliance.
- Help professionals prepare for Tranche 2 obligations and FATF-aligned standards.
- Provide actionable insights while attendees earn ACAMS credits.
This partnership ensures that cutting-edge technology is aligned with industry best practice and regulatory expectations, empowering compliance teams to stay ahead of evolving threats.
What Attendees Experienced: Real-World OSINT in Action
Co-founder of Fivecast, Duane Rivett opened the session by highlighting the growing importance of open-source intelligence (OSINT) in tackling complex threats. He introduced Fivecast as an Australian-owned technology leader in OSINT, headquartered in Adelaide, with offices in Canberra, London, and Arlington, reinforcing our global reach and local roots.
Following this, Tony Knox, Senior Tradecraft Advisor at Fivecast, shared insights from his career in intelligence and cybersecurity and showcased real-world applications of Fivecast ONYX, our open-source intelligence platform, through practical use cases and scenarios that demonstrated OSINT in action.
Completing the Puzzle: OSINT for Investigations
Attendees learned how OSINT supports investigations by uncovering suspicious behaviour, or sometimes, the absence of expected behaviour. The presentation emphasised that all findings were based on open-source intelligence.
Case Study: Investigating a Suspect Entity
A highlight was the deep dive into a real-world case involving an organisation flagged as unlicensed by a government financial resource. Using Fivecast ONYX, the team:
- Analysed the company’s website and social media presence, noting a lack of genuine engagement.
- Mapped connections between the entity and other organisations, revealing interactions mostly with lesser-known “news” sites, not reputable media.
- Investigated the management team’s online footprint, uncovering limited presence and inconsistencies.
- Used network analysis to visualise relationships and flagged suspicious patterns, such as one-way interactions with major financial outlets and questionable claims of partnerships.
- Demonstrated how Fivecast ONYX can link phone numbers and emails from social media to real-world individuals, supporting due diligence and fraud investigations.
- Noted regulatory warnings from multiple jurisdictions, and the absence of a physical address or regulatory details on the company’s website.
OSINT Workflows IN PRACTICE
The session showcased how Fivecast ONYX collects and analyses live data in near-real time, without relying on static data lakes, and applies natural language processing to surface relevant activities. Attendees saw how the platform:
- Automatically creates networks and conducts risk analysis from collected information.
- Enables investigators to quickly identify additional nodes for further collection.
- Supports digital footprinting, combining open source, commercial, dark web, and data leak sources to uncover true identities or additional accounts for investigation.
Why It Matters for Compliance Teams
With Tranche 2 reforms expanding obligations and AUSTRAC increasing enforcement, compliance teams need tools that go beyond manual checks. Fivecast enables:
- Risk-based compliance aligned with global AML/CFT standards including FATF, EU 6AMLD, BSA/FinCEN, AUSTRAC and more.
- Faster detection of complex money laundering patterns and scam networks.
- Scalable intelligence workflows for AML programmes and enhanced due diligence.
About Fivecast
The mission of Fivecast is to enable a safer world. As a world-leading provider of open-source intelligence solutions, Fivecast helps customers collect and analyze massive amounts of data, uncovering actionable insights critical to protecting global communities. Purpose-built to address the highest priority use cases in the national security, law enforcement, defense, corporate security, and financial crime markets, Fivecast deploys advanced data collection and AI-enabled analytics to solve the most complex intelligence challenges.
