PEPS AND SANCTIONS SCREENING

Easily identify high-risk customers and manage ongoing monitoring – on your terms!

With Credas’ PEPs and Sanction screening, you can tailor the datasets we interrogate and our data matching levels to your risk appetite. Effortlessly identify whether your clients are on sanctioned lists or are politically exposed in real-time.

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MANAGE YOUR ENHANCED CUSTOMER DUE DILIGENCE

Under money laundering regulations firms must identify whether someone is regarded as a Politically Exposed Person and therefore presents a higher risk to the firm. A Politically Exposed Person usually works within a position of authority and/or is closely related to someone who does. In addition, all firms are also required to ensure they are not working with sanctioned individuals. Failure to have sufficient processes in place to identify high-risk customers can result in significant fines or even disqualification.

PEPs and Sanction lists change regularly, as people and entities are added or removed, so having access to the right data is vital, for maximum efficiency. Credas makes it easy for firms to identify high-risk individuals, delivering results in real-time from a large range of official datasets. Should a match be identified, it is flagged so you can take further action and add notes / further evidence before continuing. For those who would pose a higher risk to your business, this is a compliance hotspot, and missing changes would open your business to regulatory risk.

We also offer the option to integrate our solution into your CRM system streamlining the customer onboarding process and ensuring your CDD process is met consistently.

PEPs and Sanctions guide

TRUSTED BY THESE COMPANIES

KEY FEATURES OF OUR PEPS AND SANCTIONS PRODUCT

Real-time results
Official government sanctions lists
Proactive ongoing monitoring
Law enforcement & SIPs
Adverse media searches
Relatives and Close Associates screening
Tailorable PEP screening
Headshots of identified individuals
Easy internal audit trail

Your compliance. Your choice

When it comes to PEPs and Sanctions screening some businesses take the approach of meeting minimum required standards while others wish to cast a wider net. We don’t dictate to you how you should be screening clients, instead, we give you the freedom to decide based on your risk appetite.

We allow you the flexibility to choose what’s right for your firm. You can also control the degree to which we match an individual against the data available. Maybe you want just a name or a name and date of birth match.

To make it easy for our customers, we’ve set up 10 different profiles each configured to different tolerance levels. Starting with UK-only searches to full international screening. Our software will then deliver the results in real-time helping you to identify sanctioned individuals and potentially high-risk customers.

International PEPs and Sanctions screening

PEPS AND SANCTIONS FAQS

How often are your PEPs and Sanctions data updated?
Our UK, UN, EU & US Sanction lists are monitored for new releases several times daily while all other international lists are updated overnight. Our PEP data is refreshed daily.

What are PEP tiers?
Based on Money Laundering Regulations as well as UK Government guidance, PEPs can be categorised into different tiers depending on their role. For example, Heads of State and Government would be regarded as Tier 1 while mayors and members of local councils would be Tier 4. Under UK Government guidance the expectation is firms should be identify Tier 1 & 2 PEPs as a minimum.

How much can we be fined for failure to comply with money laundering regulations?
Fines can vary depending on the size and nature of the failure. In June 2020 Commerzbank, London was branch fined £37.8 million by the FCA for AML failings including their ongoing review processes involving both customer due diligence and ongoing transaction monitoring while in April 2019 Standard Chartered Bank was fined £102.2 million by the FCA for poor AML controls including their ongoing monitoring processes. Also under the Proceeds of Crime Act, you could face criminal prosecution if it is found that you have benefitted directly from criminal activity and enabled money laundering to take place.

If my client is identified as a PEP must I stop working with them?
Whilst you can continue to work with a known PEP, you should carry out more scrutiny of the business relationship such as verifying both their source of funds and wealth.

How long do I need to setup ongoing monitoring for?
Money-laundering regulation does not stipulate how often you or for long you need to conduct ongoing monitoring for. Instead, it states that ongoing monitoring must be ‘undertaken throughout the course of the relationship (including, where necessary, the source of funds) to ensure that the transactions are consistent with the relevant person’s knowledge of the customer, the customer’s business and risk profile’. The basic principle is that the higher the risk, the more thorough your due diligence and therefore ongoing monitoring. We allow you to tailor your ongoing monitoring on a customer by customer basis so it is reflective of the risk they impose.

USEFUL AML LINKS

FCA – Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

Anti-money Laundering Legislation Guidance Notes

Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

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