The countries poised to win the fight against money laundering with AI for AML

The Napier AI / AML Index is the only global, in-depth ranking of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on anti-money laundering (AML). Developed by data scientists, the report offers a transparent and explainable view of compliance costs and AI’s potential to enhance AML effectiveness for both society and financial institutions.  

In this year’s edition, we found some surprises in terms of top performers, biggest movers, and those nations struggling to balance AML effectiveness with the total cost of compliance.  

Top Findings from the Napier AI / AML Index 2025 – 2026

This year’s report confirmed some things we already know – that money laundering is a huge global problem – and highlighted some news trends.

It is well documented that the equivalent of 5% of global GDP is estimated to be laundered every year. What’s interesting about that is the rising value of those losses (up $300 billion from last year), the rising cost of compliance, and the increasingly tangible benefits of AI for AML.

The Index found that regulated firms like banks, payments firms, wealth & asset managers, telcos and insurance companies can save $183 billion (up from $138 billion last year) on compliance costs by implementing AI into their AML strategies.  

And that $3.3 trillion could be returned to global economies with AI-powered AML strategies (up from $3.13 trillion last year).

2026: The Year for AI in AML

AI for AML is no longer nascent, with multiple national initiatives focused on encouraging and facilitating compliance-first AI innovations. Because of this, the potential benefit of AI for AML in terms of TCO savings and recouping economic value are rising. Also rising is the rate of financial crime and associated losses, creating a catalyst for AI in AML that delivers both efficiency and effectiveness for nations and financial institutions.

The markets best positioned to seize the moment can be identified from across four key data points within the Index score.

Potential AI savings in billion USD

Markets with the highest potential AI savings also often exhibit year-on-year growth in this potential.

1. United States ($26.18)

2. Germany ($14.32)

3. France ($11.14)

Australia and the UK notably have been improving AML efficiency and effectiveness with regulatory reform, meaning these stand out as a market without huge inefficiencies to address with AI.

Highest Total Cost of Compliance

1. Poland

2. France

3. Germany

All three of these markets were in similar position in last year’s Index. Poland’s efforts in AML effectiveness are being outshone by low efficiency right now, but should improve over time.

As large financial services hubs and leading European powers in AMLA, France and Germany spend whatever it takes to secure their market, meaning they present as relatively high TCO, however with AI automations being encouraged by authorities and implemented by financial institutions, their TCO should soon trend downwards.

AML Attitude

This score indicates market appetite for AI in AML, with top scorers showing the willingness of financial institutions to address AML deficiencies with new technologies.

1. New Zealand

2. Ireland

3. United Arab Emirates

Leading scorer, New Zealand rose to the top from last place in the previous Index, while Ireland and UAE maintained their ranks here.  Interestingly New Zealand ranks amongst the worst markets when it comes to AI/AML regulation score, indicating that regulatory enablers aren’t keeping pace with appetite from financial institutions for reform.

‍

AI / AML Regulation

This score evaluates perceptions of AI usage and the role of regulators in the region, specifically whether the financial crime prevention leaders feel that regulation is a help or a hindrance in improving AML outcomes, and its impact on the total cost of compliance.

1. Singapore

2. United Kingdom

3. Italy

Singapore, UK & Italy continue to be top performers in AI/AML Regulation scores from last year’s Index, showing consistency in the national approach to AI regulation and the potential for initiatives like sandboxes and national registries to begin driving significant benefit across TCO and AML effectiveness soon.  

France, Germany and Poland also all ranked well here, and showed year-on-year improvements, boding well for future reductions in TCO.

AML fatigue in financial institutions

Some markets and their respondents show indications that they are experiencing challenges in holding back the tide of financial crime.

The markets reporting the worst ‘bad’ AML attitude were UK and USA, who ranked much better last year, perhaps indicating fatigue from increasing financial crime and alert volume and sanctions inflation, without a clear end in sight.  

Australia remains near the bottom of the AML attitude rankings for the second year in a row, and also continues to score poorly for AI/AML Regulation, perhaps indicating the negative sentiment of the market regarding the ongoing AML reforms creating significant challenges for FIs, but ultimately demanding excellence in AML from its market participants. The real-terms improvement in its AI/AML Regulation score could also indicate that while AML reforms have caused some pain, ultimately the market believes that they are directionally correct, and see the potential for AI to remove some of the operational burden.

‍

The future of financial crime compliance

For every market evaluated within the Index, there’s an interesting story to uncover within the underlying scores, even for those that rank lowest in certain categories (such as AML Attitude). These indicate the reasons for challenges in AML in the region, as well as providing some forecast for when the tide might turn in favour of the financial institutions fighting the good fight.

‍

To read the report in full download the Napier AI / AML Index 2025-2026