With the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) finalizing its long-anticipated rule extending AML/CFT obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to RIAs and certain Exempt Reporting Advisers, the sector faces its most consequential compliance shift in decades.

Effective January 1, 2026, RIAs must implement and maintain a risk-based AML program that includes internal controls, a designated compliance officer, ongoing training, independent testing, and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing. This brings RIAs into alignment with obligations traditionally reserved for banks and broker-dealers.

Many RIAs are discovering that traditional AML tools which are originally built for banks or retrofitted from manual compliance processes, and don’t meet the nuanced needs of investment firms. Flagright’s infrastructure-first approach tailored to the investment advisory model has made it the best AML solution for RIAs.

Here are six practical reasons RIAs are choosing Flagright over legacy AML solutions.

1. Built for the Modern RIAs

Legacy AML vendors typically cater to retail banks or digital payment platforms. Their systems are rigid, overengineered for high-volume retail transactions. RIAs, however, deal with concentrated, high-risk relationships and complex legal structures that demand a different compliance logic. Legacy systems fail to account for the advisory-specific nuances such as:

  • Complex client ownership structures
  • Managing PEP or offshore exposure in fund structures
  • Subscription/redemption flows
  • Monitoring low-frequency but high-value transactions

Flagright advantage:

Flagright’s architecture is purpose-built  for regulated financial entities with non-traditional risk vectors. Our system understands non-linear investment flows, accommodates fund hierarchies, and integrates monitoring logic specifically for investor risk, not just payment patterns. This ensures RIAs get contextual risk detection, not false positives.

2. Go Live in 30 Days: Not 6 Months

Lengthy implementation cycles is a top frustration for RIAs working with legacy vendors. Many end up hiring third-party consultants just to integrate and configure their systems.

Flagright solution:

  • Cloud-native and modular by design
  • Pre-built policy templates mapped to FinCEN’s AML pillars
  • No-code rules engine that requires no engineering team
  • Our API-first architecture allows direct connection with your CRM, KYC, and portfolio systems
  • White-glove onboarding with a dedicated compliance success team

With Flagright, RIAs can go from signed contract to live monitoring in under a month, without sacrificing rigor or customization.

3. No-Code, Fully Customizable Rule Engine

Many AML tools require developer intervention for basic changes, such as tweaking rules, adding scenarios, or changing thresholds. That’s a major bottleneck for RIAs without large internal tech teams. It’s simply not sustainable.

Flagright solution:

  • Every rule, threshold, and escalation condition is editable via a no-code interface
  • Custom workflows for entity types (e.g., feeder funds, joint accounts, discretionary mandates)
  • Modify risk rules, alerts, and thresholds in real time
  • Set entity-level logic for different investor profiles or fund structures
  • Pre-built red flag scenarios (e.g., sudden large subscriptions, unusual redemption timing) that can be customized in minutes.

This empowers compliance officers to iterate quickly without relying on IT or vendor, improving responsiveness and program agility.

4. Real-Time Monitoring for Behavioral Risk

Legacy systems often rely on static, rule-based alerting that generates noise rather than insight. For RIAs dealing with low-volume, high-risk transactions, behavioral context matters.

Flagright advantage:

  • Risk scoring that evolves as client behavior and exposure change
  • Alerting based on deviation from expected investor activity, not just absolute thresholds
  • Scenario testing to simulate changes in client or market behavior and assess AML impact

This ensures your team focuses on material risks, not just false positives.

5. End-to-End Audit Readiness

Audit preparation with legacy systems often involves manually cobbling together logs, spreadsheets, and emails. This is risky and resource-intensive.

Flagright provides:

  • Full audit trail on every rule change, alert, escalation, and SAR
  • Dashboard exports and compliance reports in exam-ready formats
  • Real-time dashboards that show compliance posture across all risk domains

When regulators come knocking, RIAs working with Flagright can demonstrate program integrity instantly and with evidence.

6. Support from AML Experts

Support is often a blind spot in the legacy vendor experience; either outsourced or limited to ticket-based tech help. For RIAs, AML questions are compliance questions.

Flagright delivers:

  • Direct access to compliance success managers with domain expertise
  • Ongoing check-ins to optimize risk rules and workflows as your firm grows
  • Hands-on support during setup, audits, and change management

We don’t just keep your system running. We help your compliance program evolve.

RIAs Deserve Infrastructure That Works for Them

The investment advisory world is entering a new compliance era. With FinCEN’s rule as the catalyst, RIAs need more than retrofitted banking tools—they need agile, reliable, and intelligent AML infrastructure.

Flagright is built from the ground up to serve this need. We combine compliance expertise with powerful technology so that RIAs can meet regulatory expectations without losing focus on their clients.

Ready to see how Flagright can work for your firm? Book a personalized demo and get a tailored AML roadmap for your RIA.