Abstract
Mphasis recently briefed Celent about the NextAnglesTM KYC UBO hierarchy assessment solution and showed a demonstration of the solution. This briefing note summarizes our key takeaways.
Technology used in anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) operations at financial institutions is undergoing a sea change driven by intensifying regulatory scrutiny, proliferation of digital channels, fintech revolution and new business models, growing volumes and complexities in payments including cross-border funds transfer, as well as proliferation of data sources for conducting due diligence. A specific challenge in KYC due diligence is conducting beneficial ownership (BO) and ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) assessment because it is highly manual at most banks which makes it costly and inefficient.
Mphasis, a provider of IT solutions and services, has leveraged its AI-powered NextAnglesTM platform and developed a solution for automating the BO and UBO assessment process. The NextAnglesTM KYC UBO solution allows quick discovery and efficient hierarchy creation of beneficiaries of an entity by automating large swathes of low-knowledge tasks. By automating KYC UBO assessment process, this solution can relieve the load on compliance resources and make the management of highly incremental loads easier and less disruptive. This is particularly helpful for banks undertaking periodic or regulatory driven back-book remediation projects. In the current environment as we navigate the immediate impact of COVID-19 where remote work is affeccting normal operations at many financial institutions and limiting their staff’s ability to work at full capacity, the opportunity to automate and easily scale up manual processes should be highly valued by many firms.
Despite early inhibitions with AI and its perceived lack of explainability, large banks are moving ahead with their application, including in compliance, with impressive results. Regulators have started taking note of these developments and are encouraging financial institutions to experiment with innovative technology. These steps are likely to lower the barriers and accelerate the adoption of AI driven tools such as the NextAnglesTM KYC UBO solution.