Nowhere in the regulations are financial institutions instructed to use a proprietary database or conduct a proscribed level of research when onboarding a new customer or counterparty. Yet this is where the bulk of the money is spent: in database costs, workflow tools, and investigative labor. As this is where the money is, we have […]
Although M&A activity picked up late in 2012 and in the first quarter of 2013, overall 2012 was a slow year, as was the entire post-financial crisis period. Despite low interest rates and huge amounts of cash on corporate balance sheets, M&A activity over the past few years has been subdued.
Identifying beneficial owners is the most difficult part of the onboarding process. In the seven years Alacra has been providing compliance solutions, we have seen the beneficial ownership requirements increase dramatically. Early on, only owners of 50% or greater needed to be identified. Then for several years most institutions were collecting information on 25% and […]
Alacra is visiting ACAMS 2013 in Florida this week, joining our friends and partners in the key KYC compliance space to help firms of all types stay within the bounds of the law.
On the first full day of the conference, we heard from some of the luminaries of the financial crime and compliance space, […]
We are delighted to announce the latest release of Alacra Compliance Enterprise for global financial institutions. Alacra Compliance Enterprise helps banks and trading firms around the world reduce regulatory, financial, legal, and reputational risk.
If you are not familiar with our compliance solutions, […]
“Risk-based approach” is a phrase used in many domains, from pharmaceutical manufacturing practices to auditing, to testing internal controls, to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. The AML regulations are consistent in saying a risk-based approach should be deployed; our best practices that follow explain how some financial institutions get this done.
BSA (Bank Secrecy […]
In Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” Habit Two is “Begin with the end in mind.” Customer Identification is the start of the KYC process. Basically, a thorough customer identification procedure can set the stage for best practices throughout the entire onboarding process. One variable is how much data is the […]
This is the first in a series on best practices for Know Your Customer workflows.
Alacra has been delivering Compliance Workflow solutions to financial institutions since 2005. Our sales and implementation process usually involves many client meetings. As we work out the configuration with the client, the question we are often asked is, […]
At Alacra, we understand the difficult workflow decisions financial firms are facing with multiple jurisdictions, reporting requirements, and KYC initiatives. We work closely with our clients and the industry to help everyone make compliance robust and simpler. As such, we recently brought together several clients for our second FATCA Workshop Evening on February 12. The […]
Many large financial institutions use the regulatory status of a client or counterparty to help determine its risk level and therefore the amount of due diligence required to onboard that entity. The risk level is also used to determine how often that entity must be refreshed from a KYC perspective. An entity that is regulated […]
