Sanctions Screening in Gabon: Financial Institutions Must Stay Ahead

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The Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Gabon’s financial sector is facing increasing pressure to adapt to rapidly evolving regulations and growing business demands. Anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions compliance require proactive measures to mitigate risks and avoid costly fines.

Traditional Paper Screening: Challenges and Limitations

• Data extraction and analysis: complex procedures lead to incorrect or incomplete data
• Screening and alert review: data entry errors impact filters and effectiveness, resulting in high numbers of false positives and duplicates
• Quality assurance and audit trail: slowly generated, fragmented paper-based audit trails limit manual controls

The Benefits of Automated Solutions

Financial institutions can reap benefits by integrating automated technologies into their infrastructure:

• Quick adaptation to increased volumes and regulatory expectations
• Increased efficiency in end-to-end processing
• Higher percentage of productive alerts captured by screening systems
• Potential resource and operating cost savings

Automated Solutions for Paper Screening

Data Extraction and Analysis

• Optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP) can electronically convert text and transform it into data.

Screening and Alert Reviews

• Robotic process automation (RPA) and intelligent process automation (IPA) can automate the online screening process, reducing the time spent on collecting and consolidating research.

Quality Assurance and Audit Trail

• Workflow and case management solutions can facilitate trade processing, alert management, and quality controls throughout the process.

Implementing Automated Solutions

Financial institutions must determine which automation opportunities are most pertinent to their current processes, operations, and risk appetite:

1. Conduct an in-depth analysis of the current paper instrument management and screening process
2. Define the future process, including target architecture and requirements for each improvement area
3. Choose a qualified vendor through the RFP or vendor selection process
4. Implement and integrate automation tools based on defined requirements

PwC’s Expertise

Our Financial Crimes Unit (FCU) brings together technology, regulatory, and investigative expertise to help financial institutions adapt to evolving regulations.

Learn more about our services and how we can support your sanctions screening efforts in Gabon.