2019 has seen its fair share of AML failures and violations, resulting in eye watering FCA and HMRC fines.
The biggest fine so far was the £102m imposed on Standard Chartered in April for “poor AML controls” which saw “breaches in two higher risk areas of its business.” This is the second largest financial penalty for AML failures ever imposed by the FCA.
Indeed, UK regulators and investigators are enforcing more aggressive AML compliance standards. HMRC’s latest historic fine is a prime example of this which saw £7.8m penalty against Touma Foreign Exchange Ltd, a West London money remitter for failures in AML risk assessment and training.
As pressure mounts, regulatory businesses and compliance teams are under the microscope to perfect their anti-money laundering procedures – and as the media likes to warn, if AML procedures are not watertight, there is serious cause for concern.
To state the obvious, non-compliance is expensive. However, its repercussions stretch much further than the business bank account. It can inflict disastrous reputational damage, a loss in clients, business relationships and trade.
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and about five minutes to lose one.” (Warren Buffett)
Therefore, having proactive and preventative compliance measures in place makes good business sense. Compliance is important as it has a knock-on effect for how your business can grow, improve and thrive.
Regulatory compliance is often thought of as a ‘chore,’ as a check-box excerise – something you ought to do rather than want to do.
At Veriphy, we want to shift this mode of thinking. Compliance is more than a risk management excerise grounded in fear; it is the basis of good business practice. It has the potential, when implemented correctly, to provide significant and positive secondary benefits for operational procedures.
Consumers hold the power to determine the performance of a business. It is therefore imperative that companies respond with innovative solutions to keep pace with customer requirements.Inefficient onboarding is costly. Research has shown that many UK consumers often abandon the application process as soon as they are asked to present ID face-to-face. Plagued by high application drop offs, many businesses have asked themselves how to provide a slicker on-boarding experience to generate client growth.
This is why so many businesses have turned to regtech solutions in order to adapt to the expectations of the digital consumer.
George Stark, MD of Veriphy said “Many decision makers are realising that compliance is an investment into business growth and opportunity. Regtech is not just about protecting businesses from the obvious pitfalls of compliance. As research shows, the adoption of electronic checking can give firms a solid foundation to optimise client onboarding operations and thrive in a competitve world.”
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