The post-9/11 anti-money-laundering market (2001-2010s)
After the September 11 attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act expanded anti-money-laundering (AML) rules for US banks. The new requirements forced thousands of financial institutions to build systems that could flag suspicious transactions for review.
Spending on AML compliance software multiplied within a few years as banks scrambled to meet the new rules.
The compliance industry never contracted. AML tools became a permanent cost of doing banking business, and firms like Thomson Reuters built major product lines selling them.
TRM is betting that surging AI-enabled crime creates a similar permanent market: 'AI investigations' software that governments and banks must buy, just as they bought AML tools after 2001.
