Abstract
This paper examines the applicability of the PRINCE2 project management methodology to financial monitoring systems (FMS) development and proposes a hybrid governance framework integrating agile elements. Building on a conceptual analysis and literature synthesis of studies published between 2021 and 2026 on the governance of projects in the financial domain, this extended version supplements the original conceptual contribution with empirical statistical material drawn from Kazakhstan's 2025 National Risk Assessment (NRA) of money laundering, the Eurasian Group (EAG) 2023 Mutual Evaluation Report, and Türkiye's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) compliance statistics and FATF mutual evaluation outcomes for 2021–2025. The applicability of PRINCE2 is demonstrated through two illustrative national case studies: the modernisation of Kazakhstan's real-time transaction-monitoring infrastructure following its 2022–2024 FATF increased-monitoring episode, and Türkiye's large-scale MASAK compliance-examination programme conducted in 2025 in preparation for a post-delisting FATF on-site verification visit. The empirical evidence shows that product-based planning, stage-gate governance, and the four core PRINCE2 management products (Risk Register, Quality Register, Issue Register, Business Case) map directly onto the regulatory reporting and supervisory-examination cycles documented in both jurisdictions, while the iterative nature of machine-learning-based fraud-detection model development remains structurally incompatible with single-pass, waterfall-style PRINCE2 stage planning – a tension resolved through the hybrid PRINCE2-Agile approach proposed herein. The paper additionally situates its contribution within the Financial Forensics research agenda by linking PRINCE2 governance artefacts to the evidentiary and audit-trail requirements of suspicious-transaction investigation.