What COVID-19 means for your AML programme, and how you can respond

COVID-19 has impacted everyone around the world, from school children to employees, the health sector to the grocery sector. Even criminals have been affected too!

Several criminal typologies (avenues people would normally attempt to launder money through your business) have now been either temporarily or permanently closed due to lockdowns and other measures to fight the spreading of COVID-19. Because of this, it’s likely criminals will look for other means to get their ‘dirty money’ into the financial system. Naturally, some businesses may see a reduction in suspicious activity, while others may see a rise.

It's within this context that ACAMS have seen a shift in reporting entity behaviour. They noted that compliance officers are now reassessing their transaction monitoring approach to account for dramatic shifts in customer behaviour amid the global pandemic of the new coronavirus disease.

For reporting entities who have automated their AML programme, part of this reassessing means reviewing the rules they have set up in their AML software.

Responding to change with an automated AML solution

In order for your team to respond to changing market conditions and consumer behaviour, plus get up to speed and see value as soon as possible, look for automated software that gives you:

• Unlimited access and ability to add, update, and change rules on your own (some solutions charge for this functionality).
• An easy-to-use interface and rules editor that allows for drafting, testing, and promoting new and changed rules at any time (the easier to use the faster your team will get up to speed).
• Local, available support team who can support your staff as they take advantage of these features
• Regular optimisation services to help ensure your team’s ongoing success with the product, like on-demand health checks and rule reviews (these services will ensure you get a higher return on your investment in automation)

If you’re not currently using AML software, perhaps now is an opportune time to consider moving towards an automated approach to fulfill your compliance obligations.

By automating your AML programme, you can take a considerable workload off your team. You’ll likely be surprised how much time can be saved by automating. Once you’ve set up your rules (i.e. what you deem suspicious activity and who are the types of people you’re screening), your team can spend more time investigating suspicious activity rather than trying to detect it.

WEBINAR: Evolving your AML programme to respond to changes.

Learn best practice for reviewing and updating your transaction monitoring rules during times of change.

Having worked with a significant number of reporting entities around the world, the Jade ThirdEye team identified the ways successful businesses are levering key features of their automation tools to add value to their investment and respond to changes in their business.

In this webinar we:

• Share our insights and experience from rules reviews we have conducted with customers
• Share ideas to help you think about how to approach rules in your organisation, and;
• Demonstrate the way this is done in Jade ThirdEye.
  

The world may be changing around us, but fighting financial crime and fulfilling your AML obligations is still a critical priority, watch the webinar now below.

Get in touch with us!