Anti Money Laundering

Money laundering is when criminals integrate their illegally-obtained cash into the financial system, so it looks like it was earned legitimately. ‘Anti-money laundering’ refers to the laws, regulations, and procedures designed to prevent money laundering, helping to stop the staggering £100 billion* of illicit wealth that impacts the UK economy annually.

Regulated firms, such as finance, property, law and insurance, are legally obliged to comply with these AML regulations, as well as art markets and other high-value dealers. The compliance of these sectors contributes to the wider battle against financial crime and protects firms within them from the risk of money laundering too.

There are several different key components when it comes to AML checks, but a SmartSearch incorporates KYC (Know Your Customer), PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) and sanctions screening, along with ongoing monitoring and enhanced due diligence. While a fragmented approach to these checks is time-consuming and inefficient, a SmartSearch is one simple, holistic compliance solution, which is why we are trusted by over 7,000 clients.

It is important that, before you onboard any given customer, you vet them by performing a series of anti-money laundering checks. These include verifying the customer’s identity, as you can do with our multifaceted TripleCheck authentication system. 

Using triple-bureau Credit Reference Agency (CRA) as well as more than 1,100 databases from the Dow Jones Watchlist, TripleCheck can quickly and efficiently check the customer’s details against lists of sanctioned individuals and PEPs.

According to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - the independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing – Red Flags can be divided into four categories: client, source of funds, professional advice and the nature of the transaction.