Definition
De-risking
Exiting or declining whole categories of customer relationship because the cost or uncertainty of managing their financial crime risk outweighs the commercial return.
By Bart Mierzejewski · Founder, FinCrime Desk · Reviewed Sep 19, 2026
Why it matters
De-risking shapes where the jobs are. When banks exit money services businesses, charities, or correspondent relationships in particular corridors, the compliance headcount follows the risk appetite — and the displaced customers move to fintechs and MSBs that then need to build their own programs.
In practice
Regulators have consistently said that wholesale category-based de-risking is not the intended outcome of the risk-based approach, and have issued joint statements urging institutions to assess risk customer by customer. The tension between that guidance and commercial reality is a live policy debate and a good interview topic.