Regulated firms should adopt a perpetual Know Your Customer (pKYC) model to combat escalating financial crime threats, warns Zowie Lees-Howell (pictured), a data expert and vice president of enterprise sales at SmartSearch, the UK’s leading digital compliance provider.
As firms continue to grapple with heightened regulatory pressure and the risk of substantial fines for non-compliance, Lees-Howell calls for modernisation of processes to maintain an accurate customer view and risk profile.
The past year has seen criminal gangs laundering illicit funds and Russian oligarchs and their associates evading the expanding sanction regime, particularly since the Russian invasion’s one-year anniversary marked by further restrictions from many Western nations. Such actions have put new and existing customers in the spotlight and risk turning non-compliant firms into unknowing enablers.
pKYC, viewed as the next evolution of Know Your Customer, replaces manual onboarding checks and passive periodic reviews with ongoing client information updates, using extensive data sources and technology to identify potential red flags throughout the customer lifecycle.
SmartSearch has responded to this urgent need by launching the next generation of its industry-leading digital compliance platform, offering a holistic view of each search subject and a single source of truth to keep users informed and risk management cost-effective.
“The growth of sanctions illustrates why a traditional KYC approach is no longer viable,” said Lees-Howell. “Instead of relying on a snapshot of a client, pKYC allows firms to build a comprehensive, continually updated picture using hundreds of data sources. This capability will be immensely comforting to firms as threat levels increase and both new and existing clients potentially face new restrictions.”
She also pointed out that modernising processes could turn compliance into a competitive advantage, with automated risk management and accurate checks providing a frictionless customer journey with digital onboarding and reduced false positives.
SmartSearch’s enhanced platform is part of the company’s decade-long commitment to assist regulated firms with their anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
Trusted by more than 6,000 clients and 55,000 users, including half of the top 100 accountancy firms and a third of the top 200 legal firms, the digital compliance solution also serves over 2,000 financial services firms and more than 1,000 property firms.
