Compliance expert urges firms to be audit-ready

25 April 2023

Regulated firms are risking fines – and wasting time and money – by relying on inadequate compliance reporting and auditing procedures, a leading digital compliance expert has warned.

Martin Cheek, managing director of leading digital compliance firm SmartSearch, says that inefficient, legacy reporting processes are undermining the productivity of firms - leaving them exposed to unnecessary downtime, fines and reputational damage in the event of a breach of anti-money laundering or sanctions regulations.

Mr Cheek said: “Firms are required to regularly update their compliance policies and procedures and part of that process is to demonstrate a robust and up-to-date audit trail, giving a comprehensive overview of their adherence to regulatory guidelines.

“Audit reports demonstrate the validity and thoroughness of the firms’ compliance preparations, along with security policies, user access controls and risk management procedures.

"Illicit funds will continue to wash through the UK while some firms continue to rely on inadequate or incomplete audits.

"Breaching the rules unintentionally is not a defence. If the regulator knocks on your door, not having a proper audit trail is inviting a fine and reputational damage. Being audit-ready also minimises the considerable – and costly - management time which comes when a potential breach is being investigated.

“Being audit-ready doesn’t just save time and money, it also safeguards reputations and avoids the hefty fines and criminal prosecutions that come with compliance breaches."

The next-generation SmartSearch platform, provides a “game-changing” robust and instantly deployable audit trail and enables firms to be ever-vigilant to AML and sanctions breaches. The platform is designed to minimise the risk of a compliance breach.

SmartSearch has released a host of features with an increased level of configurability that simplifies onboarding new customers, making it quicker and more cost-effective for firms to comply with AML regulations. Electronic verification (EV) is the only robust way to monitor existing clients and retro-screen them, enabling firms to identify any suspicious activities and take the necessary actions.

The new platform provides fully automated and easy-to-understand compliance reports, eliminating the need for firms to waste time on reporting. "Firms must stop wasting time and resource on reporting; by adopting a fully automated and easy-to-understand compliance platform – you get the reports you want or need immediately." said Cheek.

Firms that fail to comply with AML regulations face strict liability offenses and criminal prosecutions, as well as fines and reputational damage that censures bring. The SmartSearch platform enables regulated firms to be audit-ready and demonstrate compliance with AML regulations.

For more information please visit: www.smartsearch.com