What is PEP compliance?
PEP Compliance is the process of checking clients and customers to see if they are a PEP, which stands for Politically Exposed Person. A PEP is someone who has a prominent position in public life and they need to be identified within AML, KYC and Customer Due Diligence because, due to the position and influence they hold, they are more vulnerable to bribery and corruption.
How to carry out PEP compliance?
Carrying out PEP compliance involves checking all customers and potential customers of your firm against PEP lists to ascertain the level of risk they pose. There are publicly available PEP lists, but the easiest, quickest and most accurate way of checking if someone is a PEP is by running an AML check on them via an electronic platform which will automatically check them against worldwide PEP and Sanctions lists. SmartSearch conducts PEP compliance on all AML checks using the Dow Jones’ WatchList - a global list compiled from more than 1,100 different worldwide Sanctions Lists.
The Dow Jones WatchList is updated daily, and SmartSearch takes these updates in order to provide daily monitoring for all clients. This means that, if there are any changes to the PEP status of any of SmartSearch’s clients' customers, they will be informed.
