Ongoing monitoring of PEPs, sanctions and adverse media with Amiqus

The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 moved ongoing monitoring of Customer Due Diligence (CDD) up the priority list for UK firms operating in regulated markets. Firms in regulated sectors are now obliged to put as much effort into monitoring the risk posed by existing clients as they put into bringing new clients on board. This implies implementing a clear policy and procedures around how often, and in what way, anti-money laundering (AML) checks will be refreshed.

Regulation 28 specifies ongoing monitoring must include:

• Scrutiny of transactions to ensure that the transactions are consistent with your knowledge of your customers business and risk profile;
• Undertaking reviews of existing records and keeping the documents or information obtained for the purpose of applying customer due diligence measures up to date.

What to monitor
Depending on your approach to risk, there may be data sets you monitor more frequently.

PEPs have been a focus for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the EU in recent years, amid growing concerns about individuals using their political position for corrupt gain. A customer may not be politically exposed when you start working together, but their risk profile can change throughout the duration of your business relationship, particularly when considering the definition of a PEP extends to include your customers family members and close associates.

Sanctions lists also change frequently, as people and entities are added and removed. Sanction lists relate to money laundering, financial fraud, trafficking, financial threat, organised crime, terrorism and a variety of other factors that are important to monitor when conducting business.

Adverse media is a related compliance check that sources unfavourable information, related to crime, found across a wide variety of news sources — both ‘traditional’ news outlets and those from unstructured sources. As with PEPs and sanctions, news sources are ever-changing and present potential risk if not monitored continuously.

Ongoing monitoring with Amiqus
The new monitoring feature within Amiqus allows you to monitor PEPs, sanctions and adverse media for your customers.

Every day, our monitoring service checks your customers’ details against the updated PEPs, sanctions and adverse media data sources. If a match is found, you will receive a notification to alert you of the outcome and to prompt a review of the results.

Related articles
Amiqus PEPs, Sanctions and Adverse Media checks help centre article.

How to enable monitoring for PEPs, Sanctions and Adverse Media checks within Amiqus see our help centre article.