• Why misunderstanding cyber risk could ruin your reputation.
• Take a closer look at the latest cyber threats facing law firms.
• Learn more about the criminal ecosystem.
• Understand the common security errors made by law firms.
• Are you failing to satisfy your regulatory and legal obligations?
• Find out how to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.

• The Bigger Picture – Understand the wider reasons and drivers for change.
• Chaotic v Agile? What’s the culture of change in your business? 
• Common reactions to change – Learn why some people are in denial and some are accepting of change.
• Communicating Change - Hearts v Minds, why it’s important to tick both boxes.

• Defining what we mean by Stars, Steadies and Underperformers
• Identify the challenges that managers face in managing each category
• Who has the Skill v Will?  Assess your own team against a skill/will matrix
• Mind the gap – Identifying and proactively managing the 5 gaps in underperformance
• Underperformance: are you to blame?  An introduction to the CORE model to highlight the importance of trust.

In the UK, AML compliance costs are already high, and projected to increase at an accelerating pace. But here’s where it gets interesting: these costs are often driven more by the fear of fines for non-compliance and escalating AML and sanctions regulations than by any material increase in criminal threats for an individual firm.

What’s more, while AML compliance costs vary across firms, a clear trend emerges concerning firm size. Smaller organisations, despite their lower overall expenses, often face a greater burden in terms of AML compliance due to their lack of economies of scale compared to larger firms.

This spells bad news for small and medium-sized firms when it comes to AML, particularly when handling tougher cases such as international and complex entities. Having reviewed hundreds of compliance programmes and CDD processes, First AML put together a whitepaper with five actionable ways to reduce the time (and the cost) spent on onboarding these types of clients.

 

1. Review processes around data quality for unnecessary duplication and potential for human error

Firms struggling with data collection and quality are not alone. Recent research by Oxford Economics revealed 2 in 3 firms struggle with data quality, 2 in 5 experience issues with legacy systems; and a further 2 in 5 struggle with data silos.

Where data is keyed in by staff (particularly when needing to enter the data across multiple KYC/CDD tools), the firm is vulnerable to human error.  Ensuring accurate and error-free information is crucial, as even minor typos or inconsistencies can result in failed checks requiring further investigation by compliance teams. 

At the risk of stating the obvious, a large part of successful AML compliance lies in the quality of information and documentation you are handling. Having the correct information that can be easily accessible and retrievable is the necessary cornerstone of your compliance efforts (and makes supervisory bodies like the SRA happy too).

This abridged excerpt is from First AML’s latest whitepaper, Onboarding International Complex Entities: 5 Ways to Reduce Time & Cost.  It provides valuable insights and practical recommendations for commercial buyers, such as CEOs, CFOs, and partners of professional services firms. Additionally, MLROs and COLPs will gain valuable insights on streamlining their processes to ensure their systems and processes are as efficient as possible while maintaining high levels of compliance.  Download the full e-book at www.firstaml.com/uk