Financial Crime Threats Loom Large for Businesses in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
The remote islands of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands may seem like a tranquil destination, but the threat of financial crime is looming large for businesses operating there. As global financial networks become increasingly complex, the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing, and other predicate crimes has grown exponentially.
Estimates Suggest $2 Trillion in Illicit Funds are Laundered Globally Each Year
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), up to $2 trillion in illicit funds are laundered through global financial networks annually. This represents between 2% to 5% of global GDP, with only 1% of these illicit flows being intercepted globally.
No Firm is Immune to Financial Crime Threats
Despite the growing sophistication of criminals, no business is immune to the threat of financial crime or regulatory challenges. In South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, businesses must ensure they are not dealing with clients that may expose them to significant regulatory or reputational risks.
Dow Jones’ Anti-Financial Crime Solution Can Help
To mitigate these risks, Dow Jones offers a comprehensive anti-financial crime solution that includes:
- Customer Onboarding: Complete specific customer due diligence (CDD) on new customers, including beneficial ownership checks and screening for politically exposed persons (PEPs), sanctions, and adverse media.
- Ongoing Monitoring of Existing Customers: Regularly screen all customers at the same time for changes in PEP status, sanctions, and adverse media to ensure they are not exposing your business to additional risk factors.
- Real-Time Payments and Sanctions Screening: Ensure compliance with sanctions screening requirements by processing payments in restricted sectors or for sanctioned individuals, entities, or jurisdictions.
The Benefits of Using Robust, Resilient Screening Data
Dow Jones’ solution offers several benefits, including:
- Secondary Identifiers Reduce False Positives: Our expert content strategy team carefully compiles and standardizes definitions for the individuals and entities going into our database.
- Consolidated Watchlists Minimize Duplication: We reduce duplication of hits based on separate lists, such as OFAC and HMT.
- Meticulous, Ongoing Regulatory Monitoring: Our sanctions lists, official lists, and exclusion lists are continuously monitored and updated to capture increasingly frequent updates by international governments and bodies.
Expert Negative News Screening
Our experienced multi-lingual team uses proprietary AI and machine learning technologies to process hundreds of thousands of articles in a day. We eliminate those that are irrelevant and capture and structure the data needed to associate and classify an event, person, and/or entity.
Workflow Flexibility for Resource Optimization
Systems need to be adaptable enough to accommodate different workflow approval processes. Dow Jones facilitates the integration of customizable workflows, which includes rapid reviews of cases with clear alert flags.
PEP Data that Captures Regional Nuances
Our PEP content is based on a proprietary global definition compiled from ongoing analysis of international and national guidelines in line with the changing regulatory landscape. In cases of nation-based definitions, the data structure enables filtering by several categories, including “Additional Domestic Screening Requirements,” to adapt to or exclude specific national AML requirements.
In conclusion, financial crime threats are a growing concern for businesses operating in South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Dow Jones’ anti-financial crime solution can help mitigate these risks by providing comprehensive customer onboarding, ongoing monitoring of existing customers, real-time payments and sanctions screening, robust and resilient screening data, expert negative news screening, workflow flexibility for resource optimization, and PEP data that captures regional nuances. By leveraging our solution, businesses can ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and protect their reputation in the face of increasing financial crime threats.