Gabija Stankevičiūtė

An increasing number of individuals engage in forex trading on a daily basis, drawn by the potential to earn a consistent income. Despite the ongoing high liquidity and global market volatility, forex trading volumes have steadily risen over the years. However, the industry isn’t immune to illegal activities, such as money laundering and ATO fraud. These illicit actions have exposed the sector’s previously perceived anonymity, highlighting the associated risks. We talk more about KYC compliance and how identity verification can help prevent forex fraud.

AML compliance penalties have made many breaking stories in the news this year, with some European financial institutions making the cut. As these non-compliance fines sometimes reach millions, many countries, including Spain, have increased their focus on strengthening AML measures. Read more to learn how to achieve AML compliance in Spain and fight financial crime more effectively.

“Are you over 21 years of age?” isn’t the most secure age gating method out there today. In other words, age gating refers to an online practice where users are asked to provide their birthdate, select their age, or confirm that they meet the legal age requirement to access age-restricted content. To minimize the chances of minors bypassing such age gates, more businesses use AI-powered age verification systems instead. Read more.

The luxury goods market has had its fair share of interest both from buyers and money launderers. That’s why it’s no longer a surprise if the news is filled with a headline about a money laundering scandal or a related financial crime involving a luxury brand selling jewelry, yachts, private jets, etc. In this blog post, we explore the key ways criminals use high-value commodities as channels for their crimes and dive into AML compliance specifics.

The inability to verify certain types of documents, lack of efficiency in various compliance-related processes, missed updates, and no timely feedback on reported issues — yet, the list goes on. If your company has ever experienced any of these AML challenges, just know that you’re not alone. Thankfully, AML automation has evolved, pushing AI and other advanced technologies to assist businesses in streamlining their operations without any hassle.

Whether you’re a bank, fintech company, MSB, or any financial entity — you simply can’t avoid financial crime compliance. To stay in line with ever-evolving regulatory rules, businesses must implement effective procedures and protect their reputation, customers, staff members, and investors. In this blog post, we pinpoint the main red flags when it comes to illicit activities, providing insights to shield your operations from potential damage and the risk of becoming a target for money laundering.

See how HollaEx simplified its identity verification process by switching to a fully automated KYC workflow and achieved a 5x faster onboarding time. Find out how this partnership and the new KYC plugin helped them increase sales revenue.

In the past decade, Estonia has become an attractive choice for fintech startups and financial institutions aiming to broaden their operations in Europe. However, this “rising star” title burdens companies to stay compliant with the ever-evolving AML/CTF compliance requirements, which we explore in this in-depth article.

RegTech, short for Regulatory Technology, refers to the use of advanced software and data analytics. That means RegTech solutions today can help businesses and financial institutions comply with regulations more efficiently and effectively. But how does that look in practice? Does RegTech actually improve AML compliance? Let’s find out.

Smurfing isn’t something related to the famous blue fictional characters. In money laundering, smurfing refers to a fraudulent practice of breaking a larger amount of money into numerous smaller portions. In this blog post, we answer the questions of how the funds get laundered later, how smurfing is different from structuring, and more.

Knowing your customers properly isn’t possible without KYC or Know Your Customer. Chances are that as soon as you hear this phrase, identity verification comes into mind. Today, this process is also known for strict regulatory compliance across various industries and jurisdictions. What’s the best way to verify a user’s identity? How do we keep the balance between compliance requirements and user experience? What are the 3 steps to KYC? We answer all the burning questions and provide the latest insights below.

KYC is designed to verify a current or potential customer’s identity, whereas CDD is a set of measures that lead to the KYC process. CDD is also a key step in KYC compliance. You can say that past KYC practices have evolved into present CDD solutions designed to assess customer risk. Both KYC and CDD can’t work without each other. But what are the biggest differences, and how can businesses stay compliant? Continue to read and find out.