New approach maximises operational efficiencies and reduces the risk of non-compliance, fines and reputational damage.
Commercial Banking Applications AS (CBA) today announced that the latest release of its IBAS GBF software, including IBAS GPF - Global Payments Factory and IBAS GTF - Global Trade Finance Factory now incorporates two new objects that allow real-time automated checking of business transaction events against Sanction Screening and AML systems. The two objects, Embargo List Control (ELC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML), ensure that the relevant controls are carried out on each business event initiated by the bank, and not just on incoming and outgoing SWIFT MT103 messages. Several customers are already benefitting from the efficiencies of CBA’s approach.
Unlike many alternative offerings, CBA ensures that relevant controls are carried out in real-time for each business event, independent of the type of incoming or outgoing messages that are handled. Execution of the entire business event, including routing, pricing, exchange rates, funds control, booking, clearing and accounting entries only take place once the business event has passed the sanction screening and AML controls.
Rolf Hauge, founder and CEO of CBA explained: “CBA advocates that the relevant controls take place in real-time before any new outgoing messages and accounting are generated. Just as you check if the funds are available in your account before authorising a payment, so the Sanction Screening and AML controls should take place at the same time and as the first step in the automated processing of any business event – and not only for payments but for any business event in any banking product. It’s clear that the requirements for Sanction Screening and AML are only going to increase so it’s essential that banks prepare by taking the right approach now.”
The drawback of many alternative offerings is that they only check against incoming and/or outgoing SWIFT MT103 messages in parallel to processing the business event for payments. This means that new messages and accounting entries are sometimes created before the Sanction Screening and AML controls have been completed. If a SWIFT message is subsequently flagged as suspicious and requiring investigation, time is subsequently required by operational teams to fix the problems and undo the work already done. Furthermore, if checks are only being carried out on SWIFT messages and not on transactions handled outside of SWIFT, such as XML, then the process is not exhaustive. This increases the risk of Sanction Screening and AML violations not being caught in time – with the potential for costly fines and reputational damage.
For more information about how CBA can help with sanction screening and AML, please contact CBA at www.cba.no.