Tracking Politically Exposed Persons Using Comply Advantage

LONDON, January 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Industry-Leading compliance data provider Comply Advantage today announced a significant milestone with the release of its version three of its data platform. After over a year in development, the data platform has now processed over £1bn of payments for over 70 FCA and HMRC institutions, in addition to a range of other checks for large corporations in a variety of sectors.

Money-laundering and terrorist financing are significant issues in the finance industry today. Furthermore, how financial and non-financial companies deal with the politically exposed persons that they seek to do business with is a matter of concern. Politically Exposed Persons are not necessarily corrupt individuals: what is required is a nuanced appreciation of the source of funds and a realistic assessment of the client that one is dealing with.

Technology, too, has a role to play. Legacy financial technology is notoriously bad, due to contemporary banks and financial institutions arising as a result of many mergers and failing to integrate basic functionality. Consequently, banks and other providers are perceived to be unable to provide basic services, let alone innovate. Amidst this technological ossification comes the problem of an economy becoming ever more international in its reach. As institutions are approached by a range of clients from all over the world, they often have little understanding of where the funds are to be invested and their provenance.

Comply Advantage's data platform has proved of significant worth to a range of financial and non-financial institutions that rely on ComplyAdvantage's innovative data and technology to better understand the human risks that underlie their systems. The unique Comply Advantage API allows companies to integrate data seamlessly into their back-ends so as to better understand the risks that they face. All major global sanctions lists are available.

Juri De Rooster, anti-corruption specialist at Comply Advantage, commented: "Coming from South Africa I have seen the impact that corruption can have upon a continent and broader society. The fluid transition between the political and economic classes combined with economic mismanagement has acted as a significant restraint on virtuous economic growth. Comply Advantage's platform can set new standards in how companies mitigate and manage these global political risks."

Oliver Butterfield, Big Data specialist at Comply Advantage, commented: "Technology has significant potential to transform how the critical risks that face our economy are managed. Corporate structures, financial flows and sanctioned entities are challenging to disentangle, but by incorporating leading edge technologies, the ComplyAdvantage platform can make a significant impact on this global challenge for our clients."

For further information, please contact:

George Osborne, hotline@complyadvantage.com
+44(0)207-834-0252
Comply Advantage, 8a Lower Grosvenor Place, London, SW1W 0EN