EQUIFAX WELCOMES NEW ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING
GUIDANCE NOTES
Greater emphasis on electronic verification is predicted
to be the way forward
London, 29th June 2005 – Following the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales Report* on the rising costs and delays in transactions as a result of anti-money laundering rules, Equifax, the leading provider of anti-money laundering and ID verification solutions, is championing the use of online tools to check individuals and businesses.
“The ICA Report suggests that business is being driven away from the City because of the restrictions imposed by the anti-money laundering regulations”, confirmed Sue Woods, Head of Equifax ID & Fraud Services. “But we believe that the processes required to check individuals and businesses can be very simply streamlined through use of on-line checking tools, such as those developed by Equifax.
Equifax also welcomes the initiatives being taken by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG), through its revised Guidance notes, and through its proposals** to simplify the process required for individuals to prove their identity. It is also recommending a reduction in the process needed to verify the identity of business customers. Equifax believes that both of these recommendations can be addressed with a greater use of electronic verification and less reliance on the traditional method of proving identity by use of documents.
“Traditionally banks, building societies and other financial institutions have asked customers to provide documentary evidence to ‘prove’ their identity”, continued Sue Woods. “This could be utility bills, banks statements, a passport, for example. But, as well as being time consuming to find these documents, they are easy to forge - so don’t really do the job. We believe a more effective way to ‘prove’ identity is to use online tools that access a variety of information sources. As well as providing an instant response for the business and the individual, it also provides what we believe is a more robust form of identity verification. We are increasingly seeing a large number of regulated companies, both large international groups and smaller operations, completing identity checks using electronic methods.”
Equifax has developed a number of online solutions to support businesses and the industry to tackle money laundering, including AML Online which provides access to comprehensive and in-depth information on more than 1.6 million UK companies and their directors and over 45 million individuals in the UK.
“By using automated online tools, businesses can also take greater account of any identity verification that has already been carried out by other regulated firms, which is another element of the new JMLSG proposals”, concluded Sue Woods.
*The Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales Report was published on 28th June 2005
**The JMLSG is seeking comment on its proposals from the wider user community and from the public.
Full details of the proposals can be reviewed at www.jmlsg.org.uk
