What Are Watch List Screening Best Practices? Discover Right Here.
The dark networks of money launderers, fraudsters, terrorists and PEPs put certain risks at the borderline for businesses to fend off immediately or face punitive actions. Watch lists are databases stored internationally about prohibited corporations or individuals in different industries like healthcare, finance, defense, etc. Therefore, watch list screening of these individuals or dubious organization becomes important to mitigate risks or penalties.
Indulgence of arms traffickers, money launderers, drug and human traffickers, terrorist organizations, etc. in shady transactions may lead to great disasters. Watch list screeners have a thing to do – scan these watch lists sourced from international agencies, governmental authorities, law enforcement agencies, OFAC screening lists, etc. to prevent risks and comply with regulations.
Some of the watch list screening best practices includes:
Safeguarding interests: A business may thrive on its maneuvering in the competitive markets yet fail to restore its reputation and interests if found guilty of dealing with denied or restricted entities. Though suspicions may not end for any conclusion, the repercussions don’t generally end well from a customer or partner or dealer perspective. Therefore, watch list screening should follow through stringent scans of updated lists.
OFAC screening: Not many are aware, but OFAC screening is primarily to comply with regulations when a business engages in US Dollars. So, whether an organization is based in the US or conducts a business in the US, they have to take compliance measures. The same concept applies on businesses dealing with US Dollars. Hence, companies should follow OFAC screening to prevent any violation.
Smart systems: What comes without a thought is the exhaustive list scanning that may involve laborious work for employees, right? But, modern and smart software systems are equipped to do these jobs and help compliance departments to reduce workload while onboarding a customer. Optimized screening of entities with reduced
false positives narrow down demerits of computational possibilities.
Updated lists: No doubt, screening lists make it simple and easy for compliance professionals, but are they updated from time to time? Latest features in the screening software should accumulate the updated data to finish the task in alignment with present requirements instead of old data. Employees will have a chance to run through new data every single time of a customer or partner search to avoid feasible risks.
Export license: Like different screening procedures, export screening is something that most exporters worry a lot. No one refrains from following the laws yet a series of procrastinated activities could spell trouble for the organization. Indeed, exporters need to learn the facts about required export license to sell a product or service to another country. Embargoed or sanctioned lists need a check before participating in the business deal, even if it’s a freight forwarder task.
Evaluation of risks is a priority for companies in the US and businesses that deal in US dollars. Apparently, these measures help prevent any serious violation or crime under the garb of financial transactions or others.
About The Author:
Linqs Inc writes about watch list screening best practices and what organizations must cover to avoid punitive actions. He highlights briefly about OFAC screening and export screening at different levels to enable organizations for compliance arrangements. Risk-based approach for financial organizations has helped prevent various cases of defrauding finances, money laundering, etc. https://www.linqs.co
