List quality: The nature and quality of the databases used to filter sensitive persons (individuals or legal entities) vary. It is necessary to consider the sources from which the information originates, and to question the intrinsic value attached to each piece of information collected. AP solutions IO uses national and global watch and sanction lists from national, international and intergovernmental organizations, as well as from the most reputable private companies. These lists are constantly updated by thousands of analysts worldwide.
Assets FreezeAsset Freeze
Freezing assets is an economic and financial sanction in the fight against terrorism and money laundering. The freezing of assets is designed to restrict access to the financial resources of any person committing a breach of the law AML-CFT. In concrete terms, any change in the volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, nature and destination or use of funds or economic resources will be blocked by these measures.
The consequences of freezing assets are diverse:
- General or targeted import or export restrictions;
- Restrictions on access to financial markets, prohibitions on granting loans or credit, transferring funds or providing insurance or reinsurance services.
International sanctions & embargoes
Transaction screening is an obligation AML-CFT aimed at checking that the customer's transaction is not subject to international sanctions (counterparty under sanction) or trade embargoes (restriction of activity for certain countries).
Navigating through all the regulations, lists and appendices relating to sanctions and embargoes, as well as the relevant jurisdictions, can be a real obstacle course! The importance of the stakes associated with non-compliance with these principles has quickly become apparent to all business players. The fines imposed by the regulatory authorities have multiplied, culminating in a sad record of $8.9 billion to be paid to the US Treasury by a French company for circumventing an embargo!
The analysis must first determine whether the operation or transaction is likely to fall under one or more economic sanctions regimes (national, EU, US and international sanctions).
It must also present and assess the other risks associated with the transaction, such as reputational or operational risks directly linked to financial flows, or the AML/CFT risk associated with trade finance. Precise documentation of all the analysis, contextual elements and regulatory framework must be traced, dated and archived. Our solutions support you in managing, analyzing and tracking these risks.
PEP
Politically Exposed Persons(PEP) are people who are considered, at international level, to be exposed to "higher risks" of money laundering or corruption. They are people who exercise, or have ceased to exercise for less than a year (our detection criteria allow this period to be modified), political, jurisdictional or administrative functions on behalf of France, a foreign state or an international organization.
RCA
Relativesand Close Associates. Relatives and close associates of PEP include spouses, children and parents. Persons closely associated with PEP, notably within the framework of a company or legal structure (trust) or maintaining a close business (commercial or economic) link. Beyond this regulator definition, and depending on your risk appetite, we can go even further in the granularity and completeness of the information to be processed, thanks to the power of our third-party relationship filters.
Adverse MEdia (AME) or Negative News
The broad spectrum of offences linked to money laundering has made it necessary, since the European Union's 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (6AMDL came into force at the end of 2020), to adjust the filtering process on negative press to ensure correct identification of breaking news about customers or third parties. Given the amount of work this process would entail, automating the filtration of negative media is an indispensable tool for sorting and prioritizing new media information, and assessing the extent to which it could alter a customer's risk profile or damage your establishment's reputation .
Beneficial owner
The third party assessed is not limited to the "apparent" or "facial" third party. The notion of beneficial owner is the result of the transposition of the 3rd Directive AML-CFT and sets out the criteria of holding more than 25% of the capital or voting rights of a client company, and of exercising, by any other means, a power of control over the company within the meaning of the French Commercial Code. As a result, reporting organizations are required to identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owner of their customers in a business relationship. The documents collected for this purpose must be regularly updated, just as for the customer in a business relationship. The 4th Directive AML-CFT has clarified the notion of beneficial owner. In this respect, the introduction of the Beneficial Owners register of companies - kept by the commercial courts - is an aid for reporting bodies, without exempting them from their obligations to identify and verify the identity of Beneficial Owners. Since the 5th Directive, it has been stipulated that a proof of registration or an extract from the register containing information relating to Beneficial Owners must be collected by reporting bodies when entering into a relationship with a legal person or entity covered by the registration obligation.
ORIAS: ORIAS registers intermediaries (legal entities or individuals in France) in insurance, banking and payment services (IOBSP), financial investment advisors (CIF), tied agents for investment services (ALPSI), participatory finance advisors (CIP) and intermediaries in participatory finance (IFP). By filtering these lists, our tools enable you to check the validity of the Orias number, the accreditations obtained and the expiry dates of these accreditations.
INPI: Financial analysis, decision support, statistics... The French National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) is making it possible to consult - in downloadable form - non-confidential information from the annual accounts of French commercial companies, compiled in the National Register of Commerce and Companies (RNCS).
Data INPI: what data is available?
company legal identity data from all commercial court registries, centralized by INPI in the National Trade and Companies Register (RN CS): e.g. date of creation, registration, legal form, share capital, company name, trade name, acronym, principal activity, representatives, Beneficial Owners, and addresses of establishments. These data can also be used to track the life of a company: modifications and deletions, data relating to articles of association and company deeds, as well as non-confidential annual accounts (balance sheets, income statements, fixed assets, depreciation and provisions).
OPEN DATA: Open Data or "open sources" refers to all activities and methods for disseminating, collecting and analyzing information obtained from a public source, i.e. information available to everyone. These sources include newspapers, websites, books, scientific magazines, radio broadcasts, television programs and so on. In addition, there are many other public databases that have emerged from the general movement to open up public data.
Open sources can contain reliable information, but they can also contain information that should be treated with caution: false information, information whose validity is outdated, or whose basis is subjective or biased. This is why AP Solutions IO does not include screening of unverified sources as standard, but can integrate any type of OPEN DATA list you wish, depending on your risk appetite.