A system isn't a framework — and most institutions don't realize the difference until a regulator points it out.In this episode, guest host Marika Torsdotter sits down with Francisco Mainez, a transaction monitoring leader with deep experience across global financial institutions and fintechs, to unpack what separates a real transaction monitoring framework from the software underneath it — and where institutions most often get it wrong.We cover what good looks like, why data remains the unsolved problem of 2026, how training has quietly become the second elephant in the room, and what the shift from rules-based detection toward more advanced analytics actually demands of governance.

A few things that stuck with me from this conversation:

→ A system is the technology. A framework is everything around it — typology library, governance, data, documentation. Buying one without building the other is the most common failure pattern in the industry.

→ Data is the toothache nobody fixes. Institutions keep buying new systems instead, because data work is harder, slower, and less visible. But you cannot monitor anything if you don't have the data to do it.

→ Training is the second elephant. Even the most advanced system will produce false positives in front of an investigator who doesn't know what to do with them.

As Francisco puts it: "Whatever you sweat in training, you won't bleed in battle."Whether you work in AML, compliance, fraud, or financial crime more broadly — if your institution runs transaction monitoring, this conversation is for you.