ComplyAdvantage is a Business Reporter client.
Working in banking and payments has never been so exciting (or so challenging). New technologies have revolutionised our interactions with banks, retailers and each other.
But financial institutions aren't the only ones taking advantage of new technologies: so are criminals, terrorists, sanctions evaders and other malicious actors.
Alongside these new threats, risk management and compliance executives are facing a deeply turbulent geopolitical landscape, from Ukraine to the Middle East. Since 2022, the Financial Sanctions Enforcement Office and the Financial Conduct Authority have worked together to intensify their focus on this important issue, while simultaneously, governments around the world have implemented a record number of regulatory changes resulting in countries, companies and individuals that were once considered safe to do business with becoming sanctioned overnight.
Simply put, it has become more important than ever for institutions to verify that the people or organizations they choose to do business with are legitimate and that the transactions they facilitate are legal.
Information is knowledge, insights are power
Today, financial institutions have access to vast amounts of data about their customers through their transactions. However, this data only provides a limited idea of the risk a customer may pose.
With the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), we have entered a new era – an era of analytics that takes businesses beyond simply accumulating information to implementing actionable insights. This is made possible by bringing together disparate data sources to provide a three-dimensional view of an entity. For example, by integrating publicly available information from newspapers with proprietary transactional data, a bank could understand who its customers are affiliated with and ultimately whether they increase the bank’s risk exposure.
Don't forget the human touch
Even with an unlimited budget, no team could hope to tackle vast amounts of disparate data in real time. Even the largest team of skilled professionals would find themselves bogged down in laborious processes rather than applying their expertise to the biggest threats to their organizations.
Technology and automation must therefore be integrated with a strong team of talented people to deliver a risk management solution. However, many financial institutions are grappling with legacy systems that are difficult to configure in line with their risk-based approach and cannot keep pace with rapidly emerging risks. In this scenario, investment in talent is often used to compensate for ineffective and underperforming solutions. But even companies with advanced AI-based technology that can handle the volume and complexity need constant training – the human touch – to provide context and ensure accuracy.
That's why the most successful organizations leverage the potential of their technology and talent together.
Pattern detection is the future of financial crime
At ComplyAdvantage, we believe that more data creates more noise, but not necessarily more intelligence, particularly if it is unreliable or out of date. For example, system-wide updates should quickly reflect changes to key sanctions lists. When crises occur, institutions need to know that they are making their assessments with accurate and recent information.
Most importantly, businesses need information. They need help seeing and understanding patterns. Actionable insights provide more than just information – they provide the context and intelligence that help analysts make the best decisions.
ComplyAdvantage uses technology, data and expertise to help over 1,000 companies around the world uncover meaningful data that provides a clearer view of the individual and then build on that data to establish relationships between that individual and other entities.
Our proprietary risk database collects information from over 30,000 news and data sources and is constantly updated with new information on high-risk individuals, entities, and activities. Up-to-the-minute data, combined with our AI-powered technology, provides a 360-degree view that is critical to helping our clients combat financial crime. Our automated financial crime risk detection solutions analyze more data than even the best team of human analysts, improving a team’s ability to prioritize and address threats quickly and efficiently. This insight gives our clients the confidence to make well-informed decisions.
We provide the practical information that companies need in a transparent and auditable way. That's why some of the most important companies in the banking, payments, insurance and investment sectors ask us for help in managing their risk exposure.
Manage risk with data, AI-powered technology and actionable insights Advantages of Compliance.
