By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
BANKS should use the ‘Page One Test’ to decide on how to deal with clients flagged through adverse media screening, according to a former Credit Suisse leader.
Robert Edwards, the former Global Head of Transaction Monitoring at Credit Suisse, said the issue is worth considering if a potential customer faces a conviction.
“If he is convicted and if this does become front page news and our bank account is linked to it, what do we feel the repercussions are going to be?” he said.
He said the test is a thought experiment for bank leaders to decide on acceptable levels of risk.
Edwards made the comments at a webinar from Ripjar and AML Intelligence which examined the issue of how financial institutions should modernise their approach to adverse media screening.
It came after research from Ripjar found that 58% of companies still incorporate some form of ‘manual’ search into their adverse media screening. This refers to manual internet searches, rather than relying on a more modern solution.
Edwards also said that banks should consider multiple other issues when deciding on how to deal with clients flagged through adverse media screening.
“What are the elements of the allegations? How does it relate to the business that we’re doing with the customer?” he said.
“And are there mitigants that we can put in place to allow us to sort of continue to do the business while we look for the outcome?”
Ripjar and adverse media screening
The webinar also featured Matt Mills, the CEO at Ripjar, and Robin Voorsluijs, who serves as the Product Area Lead for Global Screening Delivery at ING.
Mills also highlighted the figure of 58% of financial institutions still relying on manual internet searches as part of their adverse media screening.
“Although there are places where some organizations do have some element of automated screening, it’s either not fully integrated or it’s not fully relied upon,” he said.
“So a lot of what we do when we’re working with some of the incredible institutions that we work with around the world, is really getting them very, very comfortable that they can rely and trust on these results without having to fall back to manual searches.”
He added: “One of the problems with manual searches is, of course, as well as the fact that you don’t necessarily find the right article. There’s also the slightly bigger issue of do you know you’re searching for the right entity.
“That’s the bit where, in particular, automation has a huge advantage.”
We hope you enjoyed reading this article
If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!
