AML on-demand search facility targets smaller firms

With anti-money laundering regulatory compliance costing firms millions to implement, smaller companies are at risk of non-compliance because of the upfront costs and investment typically required to implement the correct assessment and risk management procedures.

“Many firms have responded to the new anti-money laundering regulations but there are still some – particularly smaller firms - that, due to financial constraints, are failing to do so. The outcome could be very serious for those who choose to ignore these regulations resulting in heavy fines and as we have seen recently, prison sentences,” says James Sherwood-Rogers, managing director of Landmark Legal and Financial.

ASP solutions for AML are slowly starting to gain traction in the market and are more likely to appeal to smaller firms that don't want to make the upfront and ongoing investment required to implement and maintain a dedicated AML solution.

Landmark has just announced a new electronic on-demand AML search facility www.landmarkaml.co.uk, for solicitors, which provides a pay-as-you-go type model for undertaking due diligence checks on new clients (companies or individuals). The electronic information service scans data sources such as government databases, databases of Politically Exposed Persons and terrorist sanction files.