Skip to main content

Interview with speaker Aleksandra Chirkina

Could you tell us a little bit about your professional background?

My professional background is in application of data science to finance and financial data. Recently I’ve been working on an NLP project for analysis of financial documents, a recommender system for financial advice, and adaptation of different data science techniques for KYC compliance.

What will you be speaking about at the SDS2021?

My presentation “Data Science for Uninterrupted KYC Compliance” is going to demonstrate how data science can boost the efficiency and quality of KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) processes for financial institutions. Proper implementation of KYC and AML measures is crucial not just for the smooth operations of a financial institution, e.g., a private bank, but for the economy as a whole, preventing the inflow of ‘dirty’ untaxed money and combating criminal activities.

In the talk I will present our experience with two data science models being applied to transactions and KYC profiles. As a result, some non-trivial KYC violations were detected, which were missed by traditional rule-based approach. The talk is aimed at inspiring financial institutions explore intelligent data-driven solutions for detecting KYC violations, money laundering and fraud.

Why is the SDS conference important?

For me personally, the SDS conference is a yearly milestone, for which we always thoroughly prepare in our team. We reflect on our achievements and discoveries over the past year, select the most interesting client projects and internal research to share with the Swiss data science community.

Another important role of SDS, particularly in the current self-isolation times, is being the attraction point for data scientists from different companies and industries, where they can share their professional and personal experiences, exchange ideas and inspire each other.