What firms need to know about ongoing monitoring

A guide to AML compliance that can help make sure your firm doesn’t fall short

As anyone in the regulated sector knows, anti-money laundering (AML) regulations are constantly changing. It feels like one AML directive comes out and then we are already preparing for the next one. Sanctions are also ever-evolving. One day a country is not sanctioned and you can do business with them. The next day, they are on the sanctions list and you can’t do business with them.

If you don’t ensure your AML processes are constantly being updated, you could end up getting fined – or worse. In addition to the ever-changing regulations, your client’s circumstances are evolving. You could do your due diligence on a company that your client wants to invest in and it all looks legitimate. Your client invests the money. Two years later, you learn that the company had started laundering funds for a criminal group that made them an offer they couldn’t (or didn’t want to) refuse.

It’s moments like these when you realise that ongoing monitoring of your business relationships is not just important, but vital to your firm. In fact, ongoing monitoring for AML compliance is critical if you want your firm to be protected from financial crime. You need to keep track of the changing risks. You need to stay on top of compliance requirements to avoid exposure to financial crime and penalties.

Ongoing monitoring takes place after you conduct your initial customer due diligence (CDD). It helps your firm stay compliant with know your customer (KYC) directives and AML regulations. Firms need to perform ongoing monitoring to capture any developments, update customer profiles and keep track of the changing risks. Think about ongoing monitoring like a pair of shin pads in a game of football. It’s an added layer in your armour in the fight against bad actors.

Learn more when you download our guide.

What firms need to know about AML and ongoing monitoring

How are you managing your GDPR compliance requirements?

GDPR added a significant compliance burden on DPOs and data processors. Data breaches must be reported to the authorities within 72 hours, each new data processing activity needs to be documented and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) must be carried out for processing that is likely to result in a high risk to individuals. Penalties for breaching GDPR can reach into the tens of millions of Euros.

“In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.”