Using an anti-money laundering solution has fast become a key part of the compliance professional’s toolkit when performing customer due diligence.
The sheer volume of clients financial organisations onboard and service on a daily basis makes technology a logical investment. It helps firms to achieve AML compliance by identifying and preventing money laundering and other forms of financial crime far quicker than previous manual or outdated processes.
Regulated organisations have three key duties when it comes to preventing money laundering and ensuring compliance with regulation.
This starts with identifying their customers, then verifying they are, in fact, who they say they are and finally, monitoring their activity throughout their entire lifecycle as a customer. This ensures complete understanding of who the customer is to make sure that nothing changes for the duration of the relationship between them and the financial organisation.
After all, a business can onboard a client who appears to be legitimate and then within a month could become a PEP or sanctioned individual, or someone that has been exposed to adverse media.
What is an anti-money laundering solution?
Anti-money laundering solutions comprise robust Know Your Customer/Business (KYC/B) and Identity and Verification (ID&V) technology, allowing compliance teams to make faster decisions and onboard customers in seconds, not days, while complying with ever-changing legislation.
The software spans the entire customer lifecycle: from onboarding, throughout the customer journey and remediation if required. Ultimately, anti-money laundering solutions make it simpler for organisations to oversee and streamline compliance processes throughout the customer lifecycle.
Digital AML solutions operate via configurable rules which are selected to perform workflows that are adapted to meet individual business risk appetites. The API driven technology aggregates data from a wide range of sources, runs ‘checks’ and outputs decisions based on AML regulation and aversion to risk.
How can an anti-money laundering solution help to identify and prevent financial crime?
Manual solutions to fight financial crime are costly. Additional resource investment, longer timescales, poor customer service, higher abandonment rates and exposure to fines and penalties are all real dangers.
Anti-money laundering solutions provide a proactive approach to customer due diligence and ultimately puts financial organisations on the front foot when it comes to preventing money laundering.
Many firms have limited resources and do not conduct sufficiently comprehensive AML checks, living in hope that the regulators won’t catch up with them. However, with an automated solution, it shows the regulators the firm means business when it comes to waging the war against money laundering from terrorism, drug and human trafficking.
Deliver compliance in seconds, not days
The robust compliance, monitoring and remediation capabilities of an anti-money laundering solution allows regulated firms to onboard customers in seconds, not days, and ensure compliance with ever-changing regulatory requirements.
The intuitive software delivers complete peace of mind to businesses, shortening time to revenue and allowing them to focus on growing their business safely.
Whilst firms cannot prevent all forms of money laundering, they can show the regulators that they have adequate processes in place.
Easily identify whether clients are PEPs or become subject to sanctions
Ongoing PEPs and sanctions monitoring is a critical component to ensure your organisation complies AML regulation.
Anti-money laundering software can provide real-time alerts of changes in your clients’ inclusion on any global watchlists and sanctions lists, or whether they become politically exposed, to ensure that your business can act quickly. The software instantly alerts compliance teams whenever there is a change so that action can be taken swiftly to mitigate any undue risk.
Uncover all UBOs
It is a key part of AML legislation to identify the ultimate beneficial owners of a company. Shell companies are often hidden by complex structures with persons of significant control hidden within the structure. After all, these fraudsters have something to hide – usually the proceeds of crime where the money needs to be laundered to make it ‘legitimate’.
Anti-money laundering software will inform regulated firms of all known beneficial owners (i.e. shareholder data is present in a company check, and if there is a shareholder owning 25% or more of the share capital).
Thereafter, further investigation can be conducted to analyse the UBO and evaluate the risk they may pose to a regulated firm.
For example, using NorthRow’s anti-money laundering solution, if a UBO is identified, identity and verification checks can be initiated for the individuals named as UBOs to verify their identity via a combination of biometric facial recognition; lip-syncing; document verification; address validation and liveness check.
Ensure ongoing client due diligence
Anti-money laundering solutions ensure ongoing client due diligence requirements are met. This is done through continuous real-time monitoring for any changes to individuals or organisations. These changes include sanctions, adverse media, new directorships, ultimate beneficial ownership and political exposure. Scheduled reviews are also conducted to re-examine entire cases at defined intervals, depending on an organisation’s risk appetite.
