Companies will now have access to critical information not found on the standard United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) sanctions lists to help banks and corporations reduce regulatory risk and comply with global anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions. 

These enhancements will allow organizations to identify and avoid doing business with groups associated with terrorism, money laundering, or illicit financial activities.

"In today's environment, banks are under more scrutiny than ever and cannot afford to expose themselves to the kind of reputation and compliance risk associated with violating AML sanctions. Many financial institutions do not realize that standard sanction lists do not encompass all the applicable regulatory requirement information," comments Brent Newman, Managing Director of Accuity's Global Product and Data Management. "We've made a number of critical enhancements so that global organizations have the information they need to identify and screen against potential violations. More than ever, banks cannot afford to inadvertently be financing terrorism or weapons manufacturing."

Accuity now offers more than 3,200 enhancements, including bank headquarters and branches, Bank Identifier Codes (BICs), subsidiaries of sanctioned companies and enhanced information on cargo and shipping companies, to provide maximum protection from risk and reputational damage. Standard sanction lists do not cover all requirements communicated in items such as EU Council Decisions, EU Common Positions and UN Security Council Letters that identify persons, entities and groups that firms are prohibited from doing business with due to money laundering, terrorist financing or other illicit financial activities. Standard sanction lists lack information for properly identifying transactions routed to designated banks or countries that pose risks to the financial community. To ensure complete compliance, firms can utilize Accuity's enhanced datta to screen for entities that are implied but not explicitly listed in standard sanctions lists.

Accuity is the only provider with access to the world's largest database of bank locations and nearly 20 years of experience in providing AML screening solutions to global organizations. Accuity's expertise as the industry's longest-serving AML data, solutions and services provider ensures the best possible protection against high-risk transactions and business relationships. The EU and UN enhancements can be provided as part of the comprehensive data package offered by Accuity or used to supplement data obtained from alternate sources. The data can be used in third-party screening solutions or within Compliance Link, Accuity's award-winning AML compliance screening solution.

"Accuity recognizes that in today's climate when it comes to protecting a firm's reputation and meeting the challenging demands of global AML compliance, simply doing the minimum is not enough," added Newman. "These enhancements are part and parcel of Accuity's ongoing mission to provide the most comprehensive, powerful and up-to-date AML sanctions screening data in the industry, enabling firms to minimize risk and optimize their compliance program."

Additional information about Accuity's comprehensive sanctions data and screening solutions can be found on Accuity's Web site or by contacting Accuity's Customer Service Team.