AML solutions for dealers in high value goods

KYC/AML screening and in-life monitoring of your client base

High value goods, such as fine art, antiques, luxury motor vehicles and diamonds, have long been used to launder the proceeds of criminal activities. From the 1MDB corruption case to the Panama Papers revelations, it is clear that any high value dealer must be alert to the different regulations and legal obligations they are required to comply with.

In September 2019, 25 supercars, including Ferraris, Bugattis and Maseratis, fetched nearly $27 million at a charity auction in Switzerland. Enforcement agencies had seized these cars from Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president and vice president himself. In the course of his trial in France, Obiang was found to have spent over 1000 times his official annual salary on luxury goods. He was ultimately convicted of money laundering and misappropriation of public assets. Dealers in luxury goods must be alert to the risk posed by corrupt officials seeking to use high value goods to legitimise suspicious wealth.

Regulation of this sector continues to increase internationally. The drafting of the EU’s Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) into UK legislation extends responsibilities beyond currently regulated high-value payments in cash, to include any form of transaction over €10,000.

Beyond the UK, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s international AML standards task all dealers in precious metals and stones as “designated non-financial businesses and professions” (DNFBPs). Over 40 AML/CFT FATF recommendations apply to such dealers. In particular, the FATF requires dealers in this sector to conduct customer due diligence and file suspicious transaction reports when engaged in transactions over $30,000.

To avoid their falling foul of the ever-evolving regulatory regimes around the world, RiskScreen helps HVD to efficiently and effectively demonstrate that they have carried out the appropriate checks. Speak to our experts today for advice tailored to your sector and business needs.

The RiskScreen ecosystem

The RiskScreen AML platform provides an end-to-end solution for your management and protection against financial crime. Choose single or multiple modules, as your organisation requires.

Save weeks of work by conducting digital identity verification of individuals, as well as full KYC and KYB screening checks through your dedicated web portal and mobile app.

The risk levels you decided at onboarding can then carry through to your ongoing screening and monitoring.

AML screening against sanctions, PEP and watch list data – as well as adverse media – to establish your customer’s risk level.

Screen as a one-off at point of sale or pre-onboarding, then follow this up with ongoing scheduled batch screening across your customer base – so you’re alerted about changes, and can be confident in your exposure.

Revolutionise your decision making with RiskScreen’s in-life monitoring modules.

Turn your existing static and dynamic customer information into hot data for real-time risk analytics and reporting with our truly transformational approach to data and risk management.

Further reading

News

Danske Bank: What went wrong?

It is hard to imagine that a bank is capable of laundering hundreds of billions of euros in just eight years. The Danske Bank scandal

Find out why RiskScreen is the smarter way to combat money laundering

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Resources

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RiskScreen was founded by experts in financial crime. It’s because of this unrivalled subject matter expertise that companies choose to partner with us.