To meet regulatory expectations, a business, regardless of size, must be able to detect when a client’s activity is unusual or suspicious. After all, ongoing monitoring is the primary purpose of anti-money laundering laws. That is, suspicious activity reporting is the objective.
The sophistication of monitoring systems will depend on the nature, size and complexity of a business, as well as the volume of client activity. Regulatory risk is high if there is no dedicated transaction monitoring system.
Integration of KYC and transaction monitoring tools at the time of client onboarding will streamline AML compliance procedures and processes. This increases efficiency by enabling AML Compliance Officers to have all relevant data at their fingertips. With informed data, determinations can more readily be made with increased reliability.
Management of transaction alerts should be prioritised. When Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officers have knowledge of higher risks, they can then focus on the issues that are most critical.