Matrixforce

Ever-growing compliance requirements that regulate trade keep the gatekeepers at financial services institutions awake at night. Striving to stay on the right side of sanctions and embargoes demands compliance with measures such as Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering detection and reporting. Both practices include screening the lists of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), violators of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) regulations, and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP). However, scanning these frequently-updated lists requires professionals to “cobble” them together to get a complete picture of compliance. The process can be complex and overwhelming. Recognizing the problems early, eCustoms—a provider of financial compliance services—realized that automating the process of searching watch lists could balance performance and compliance for financial services companies. Marc Roy, President of eCustoms, says, “If screening is time-consuming or automation is expensive, most organizations resort to infrequent screening. That leaves gaps in their compliance programs and increases the risk of penalties and fines.”

eCustoms helps customers build compliance programs that address their unique challenges and opportunities. The result is the right compliance program for them. “Our solution acts as a compliance data hub that helps ensure consistency across the organization,” explains Roy. Visual Compliance—a scalable, robust, and easy-to-use suite of automated trade, export, and financial (OFAC) software—helps organizations obtain broad and profound insights into compliance without duplicating work. Subscription to Visual Compliance includes automatic updates for watch lists including SDN, in addition to sanction and embargo programs. Previously entered names are rescreened against government watch lists, while new ones are screened immediately when entered into clients’ existing systems. This reduces the risk of non-compliance, avoids costly penalties and protects brand reputation and business partnerships. “Visual Compliance is not just software, but a total solution supporting people and processes involved in compliance,” adds Roy.