Hargreaves Lansdown case study

Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown chose NorthRow to automate their end-to-end compliance processes and focus on high-risk cases.

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“One of the most significant benefits of WorkStation has been the automation of our end-to-end compliance processes, allowing us to focus our efforts on high-risk cases. The software has saved us valuable time and resources.”

Joanne Miller

Operations Projects Manager

Background

Based in Bristol, Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is the UK’s number one platform for private investors. With a history spanning more than 40 years, HL has helped over 1.8m private clients invest and save more than £130bn to date.

With the goal of empowering people to save and invest with confidence, HL provides a single platform for ISAs, pensions, savings and investments. They’re also a provider of workplace pensions for employers across the UK.

Hargreaves Lansdown website

Key benefits

Helping Hargreaves Lansdown to onboard new customers in the simplest, safest and fastest way.

An end-to-end solution

Fully automated solution that saves time and resources.

Automated monitoring

Real-time, automatic monitoring of client cases.

Comprehensive AML checks

Complete, accurate global data for up-to-date client checks.

The Challenge

To transform manual client onboarding processes

Investments can be exploited by those involved in money laundering, fraud, and other financial crimes. As a provider of workplace pensions, it’s essential for HL to verify the identity of company members from every level to safeguard against fraudulent activities and undue risk. But with an onboarding process that was largely manual, this was significantly time-consuming and inefficient.

With ever-evolving regulations and increasing client demands, the need for a comprehensive and efficient client monitoring system became paramount.

WHY NORTHROW?

A solution to support comprehensive onboarding checks

HL looked for a partner to support the delivery of their Workplace client onboarding checks, while also automating the identification of corporate structures and screening of beneficial owners and directors. They were also looking for ongoing monitoring of entities for any changes to their risk profiles.

Joanne Miller, Operations Project Manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, explains more: “We looked at three companies in total and spent a long time carefully deciding who suited us best. The software would be integral to our processes, so we had to get it right. What stood out for us with NorthRow was the accuracy of the data provided. Having up-to-date, accurate AML records of our members is crucial in mitigating risk.”

THE BENEFITS

Delivering efficient KYC/B onboarding

By partnering with NorthRow, HL was able to streamline their Workplace processes, providing a more secure and efficient service to their pension members. WorkStation has significantly reduced the time it takes to verify clients, while still ensuring the verification is accurate.

“WorkStation adds our searches to a monitoring list and automatically alerts us to any changes in the company's structure or ownership, allowing us to undertake additional checks. This has been a significant benefit in allowing us to keep our AML records current and up-to-date, as well as providing us with valuable insights into our risk exposure.

“Our working relationship with NorthRow is also really good – we meet monthly with our contact to go over any queries we have. This ongoing support is so useful to us and is a valuable feature of NorthRow’s service.”

What Now?

Reduced cost and risk with WorkStation

With NorthRow's comprehensive AML compliance platform, HL’s Workplace AML processes have been significantly improved.

“For HL Workplace, NorthRow’s WorkStation has played a critical role in ensuring we’re always aware of any potential risks. It’s also increased productivity by making our processes more efficient. We’ve saved costs and reduced our risk of non-compliance”, Joanne concludes.

"WorkStation has played a critical role in ensuring we’re always aware of any potential risks. It’s also increased productivity by making our processes more efficient. We’ve saved costs and reduced our risk of non-compliance."

Joanne Miller