Working Papers

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute sj@keoi.org KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract Trade-based money laundering (TBML) hides in the documents of trade rather than in the payments that settle it. Conventional transaction-monitoring systems examine amounts, frequencies, and velocities, and are therefore blind to the documentary substance of a shipment; machine-learning systems trained on transaction-level features inherit the same blindness; and static models of either ki

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute sj@keoi.org KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract Assisted interpretation has an asymmetry problem. Existing devices assume either that a device is passed back and forth between the two parties, or that both parties wear one — split-pair translation earbuds, for example — and both impose coordination costs on the interlocutor, who in many real situations cannot or will not wear or operate anything. A second problem concerns delivery: whe

A KEOI Research Institute Consulting Case Client Context A cross-border commerce group with its core business in financial infrastructure was preparing a premium direct-to-consumer venture to carry heritage products — beauty, personal care, and lifestyle goods from multi-generational manufacturers in a traditional craft-producing region of western Japan — to affluent overseas consumers. The venture's market-entry architecture had already been settled in principle: the group w

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract Language models can formulate conversational responses, but their inference latency — typically measured in seconds — is incurred at exactly the wrong moment: after an interlocutor finishes speaking, when the socially acceptable response gap is shortest. This paper describes a mechanism that relocates that latency. While the interlocutor is still speaking, the system consumes streaming partial speech

Abstract Cross-language conversation support technology has advanced almost exclusively on the receptive side: translation devices and subtitle glasses help a user understand an interlocutor, but leave the user unaided at the moment of formulating a reply in the interlocutor's language. This paper presents a wearable conversation assistance system that closes this productive half of the loop. Worn by only one party to the conversation, the system (1) captures the interlocutor

KEOI Research Institute · Consulting Case Series A KEOI Research Institute Consulting Case Client Context A founder-operator preparing to establish a cross-border retail venture in a historic craft-producing city in western Japan engaged KEOI Research Institute with an unusual brief: before the company could be marketed, the founder had to be. The venture's model — helping traditional Japanese manufacturers sell directly to North American consumers — depends entirely on persu

KEOI Research Institute · Consulting Case Series A KEOI Research Institute Consulting Case Client Context A fintech venture operating cross-border payment facilitation infrastructure engaged KEOI Research Institute to design the commercialisation strategy for a new software product. The venture's core asset was a set of proprietary payment rails — merchant onboarding, risk controls, and cross-border clearing — already operating beneath its own transaction flows. The new produ

KEOI Research Institute · Consulting Case Series A KEOI Research Institute Consulting Case Client Context A cross-border commerce group with deep roots in financial infrastructure approached KEOI Research Institute to evaluate — and, if the case held up, to design — a new consumer-facing venture. The group's core business sits in cross-border payment facilitation: it operates licensed payment activities in Asia, maintains proprietary regulatory-technology and data-driven risk

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract A joint venture between a Japanese and a German firm brings two highly developed but fundamentally opposed negotiation systems into direct contact. German negotiators operate in a low-context, task-oriented framework, resolving issues sequentially and relying on explicit contracts to mitigate risk; Japanese negotiators operate in a hyper-high-context, relationship-oriented framework, refusing to fix

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract Cross-cultural communication is routinely cited by global managers as their most severe operational hurdle — and, when mastered, a decisive strategic advantage. Drawing on executive experience with cross-border market entries into high-context markets such as Japan, this paper develops a practitioner-oriented framework for communication across institutional distance. It sets out three preparatory dis

Shijie Qu KEOI Research Institute KEOI Working Paper · October 2026 Abstract This paper examines the ethical dilemma of algorithmic bias in the risk management frameworks of Adyen N.V., a single-platform global payment infrastructure provider. As payment organizations shift from technical optimization to automated decision-making, AI-driven risk engines such as Adyen's RevenueProtect maximize authorization rates and minimize chargebacks — but the continuous refinement of an “