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Watchlist Screening – Why is it Important?

Watchlist Screening

Watchlist screening is an important process in the running of many organizations protecting various sectors. As in some sectors, financial crimes are posing a serious and graving threat to the reputation of organizations. In this blog, we will discuss the importance of global watchlist screening. Organizations should not stop after a one-time screening instead they should prefer going for ongoing watchlist screening. According to an article published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), none of the state or any financial institute is unsusceptible or immune because as long as the criminals safeguard their wealth from tax avoidance, the financial crimes succeed. The article stated that the scandals of money laundering caused the banks to collapse and gave a shock to many states. 

Understanding watchlist screening:

In a world full of financial threats, a watchlist screening service can provide a deep scanning of business elements related to illegal measures. The best example of watchlist screening is the SDN list issued by the OFAC. This list contains the names of illicit people and organizations and the people of the US are not allowed to be engaged in any kind of trade with them.

The essentials of Global watchlist screening:

Global watchlist screening is a creative tool that helps organizations build up compliance while following international rules and regulations. This screening helps organizations stay alert against risks and threats related to people or organizations involved in any kind of money laundering activities on a global level. The major focus of this screening is to identify and prevent dealings with individuals related to money laundering activities. Additionally, it protects the organization from legal issues and economic and reputational effects. This comprehensive screening will help in the early identification of any kind of threats so that financial organizations can stay ahead of fraudsters. AML Watcher provides the best Global watchlist monitoring solution to organizations that will help you maintain a threat-free work environment. 

A very famous financial crime:

Frauds are growing as the world is heading towards advancement. A very famous fraud case in the history of the financial world. The Madoff Ponzi scheme is one of the biggest frauds in history as discussed by Financial Crime Academy. Madoff scheme fraud cost the investors approximately $64.8 billion. This case study stands as one of the biggest financial crimes in history.

Do you think that a one-time screening is enough? Simply the answer is “No”. Because the one-time screening will only give you a one-time advantage. Let’s discuss what should be done to gain the constant support.

Ongoing Watchlist Screening:

Ongoing watchlist screening is the constant and ceaseless process that is used by organizations to sustain constant compliance. Moreover, it helps the associations to reduce the risk related to high-risk individuals or commodities. Ongoing watchlist screening includes the regular and continuous scanning of the names against edited watchlists, which helps the regular gathering of information on the people or associations related to financial crimes. This screening allows the organization to quickly and rapidly determine any differences related to the high-risk individuals or entities.

These sanctions & watchlist programs are very beneficial for organizations as they will help enhance compliance and provide a safe business environment.

Let us discuss some of the crucial elements of watchlist screening:

 Importance of watchlist screening:

As financial crimes have increased, watchlist screening has become an important process for organizations.

  •  The watchlist screening process helps to maintain compliance in the organization. A large portion of the industries, specifically financial organizations are dependent on strict regulatory needs. The watchlist screening is an important part of compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and sanction laws. The automated watchlist screening service ensures that business relations don’t include people or commodities on watchlists. This assists organizations to stick to legal laws and regulations.
  •  Watchlist Monitoring Service helps prevent financial crimes such as money laundering, terrorist support, and fraud. It helps in pinpointing and securing transactions and business relations that include individuals on watchlists and assists in disrupting the financial flows related to criminal activities.
  • Watchlist screening (WL) also helps the organization improve its due diligence. With the help of watchlist screening, organizations can alleviate the risk of financial deception and can onboard new clients fearlessly. In addition, it will ensure organizations have complete knowledge about their business dealings and relations.
  •  A watchlist screening system will also help organizations by making their KYC practices smooth. It will help organizations to have all the essential knowledge and data about their customers. Furthermore, it will assist the associations to have a smooth onboarding process with proper inspection by reducing the risk of deceitful activities.

In conclusion, organizations should start going for watchlist screening without even wasting a minute because as we have discussed in the blog, this ongoing watchlist screening is helpful in providing a large number of benefits to the organizations. AML Watcher provides a global watchlist screening solution that will help you in risk management, keeping the organization’s reputation safe, and maintaining compliance and due diligence in the organization.

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