A new survey conducted by First AML has revealed that the majority of business leaders believe that their company's anti-money laundering (AML) procedures can be improved. The survey, which gathered responses from 250 UK business leaders, found that 76% of respondents think that there is room for improvement in their company's AML compliance.

The survey also found that 60% of companies struggle to keep up to date with changes in anti-money laundering laws and regulations, indicating a significant compliance challenge for businesses. Additionally, four out of five respondents (81%) have observed an increase in time and cost associated with AML compliance in the past year.

Time spent on the KYC process

Additionally, a majority (53%) of front-line compliance staff in businesses spend over half of their time on the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, highlighting the time-consuming nature of AML compliance. Furthermore, collecting and verifying customer information was named as a major challenge for businesses, with 43% of respondents citing it as a key issue.

Commenting on the findings, Simon Luke, UK Country Manager at First AML said, "The results of our survey highlight the ongoing challenges that businesses face in maintaining effective AML compliance. It's concerning to see that such a high percentage of companies struggle to keep up with changes in AML laws and regulations, and that the associated time and cost of compliance continues to increase. It's clear that businesses need to focus on improving their AML processes and keeping up to date with regulatory requirements to avoid costly fines and reputational damage."

The survey provides important insights for businesses looking to improve their AML compliance processes, with a particular emphasis on the need to stay up to date with regulatory changes and to streamline the KYC process to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Protecht, a leader in risk and resilience software, today announced that it has introduced enhanced business continuity features to help organisations enable operational resilience and enterprise risk management (ERM).

Operational resilience is key to risk management, business continuity management (BCM), disaster recovery and crisis management. In the face of the increasing complexity and interdependence of modern IT systems, combined with the unacceptable impact of system disruption, it ensures businesses can maintain critical functions and core services while adapting to unforeseen shocks.

The advanced Protecht operational resilience and BCM module brings together purpose-built visual asset mapping and impact analysis tools, which outline the key details of critical services, including the maximum tolerable disruption, impact tolerance and risk assessments. By identifying vulnerabilities with visual indicators of resource health or vulnerability, alongside criticality and recovery time objectives, it provides total visibility of business continuity and resilience programmes, monitoring disaster recovery and crisis management capabilities as part of the BCM process.

Gary Lynam, Director of Advisory & Customer Success , Protecht Group says: ““Operational resilience should form an integral part of any organisation’s risk management framework, and we believe the optimal solution is to integrate the operational resilience process within your ERM system. The ability to leverage existing ERM taxonomies and cross-reference existing risk and BCM activities in building out resilience playbooks will be significant in demonstrating organisations are enhancing capabilities on ‘pathway to sophistication’. That’s what our improved operational resilience module provides, out of the box.” 

Protecht customers can now assess the accuracy of impact tolerances by linking the outcomes of scenario assessments to important business services. An easy-to-use interactive dashboard enables users to monitor in real-time health scores across numerous key factors, including risks, controls, actions, vulnerabilities, incidents actions whilst highlighting the dependency of 3rd parties.

Gary adds: “It makes most sense to call on, and link to, all the existing relevant information and processes within the ERM ecosystem. That’s precisely what the new operational resilience module does via an intuitive risk and resilience dashboard that provides operational transparency and visualises risk across the organisation.”

Andrew Wilmot, Head of Operational Resilience at GVS Prepaid (Europe), part of the global FinTech Blackhawk Network, the company behind the leading multi-store gift card One4All, says: “As a leading payment and e-money provider, we take compliance, risk identification and risk management as well as process documentation seriously. We chose Protecht’s ERM for our Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) System and use its operational resilience module to monitor regulatory obligations and perform regular assessments of our compliance; the mapping functionality to enable clear oversight and optimisation of the operational resilience of important business services while detecting key vulnerabilities and assigning mitigation actions. As such, we are well positioned to fulfil our Consumer Protection duties by sustaining our business continuity, reducing unscheduled downtime, and providing total visibility of our GRC ecosystem, leveraging the Protecht ERM platform.”

The number of nuisance calls and texts reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) dropped by 57% in 2022, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from technology company Quadient has revealed.

The ICO received 56,015 complaints about nuisance calls and texts in 2022, less than half the 131,491 received in 2021 and fewer than in any year since 2019. Overall, there were 32,317 complaints about live calls (down 35%), 13,790 about automated calls (down 74%) and 9,908 relating to SMS text messages (down 57%).

Potential reasons for this severe drop include:

• A record number of consumers using Open Banking regulations to call it a day with their existing bank and start a more healthy relationship with a competitor.
• New consumer-focused FCA rules improving customers’ relationships with their insurer.
• Energy suppliers keeping contact to a minimum during a period of negative news for the industry.

“It might seem fantastic to see the number of complaints more than halve, especially regarding often intrusive and impersonal automated calls – however we cannot know for sure until we know the reason for it,” said Andrew Oldham, UK CXM Director, Quadient. “This may be a new era in business-consumer relations, it could be a one-off due to external factors, or it may even be because consumers are so disheartened with nuisance calls that they have given up complaining. Regardless of the reason, organisations cannot rest on their laurels. They need to remain firmly focused on their customers and follow best practices to ensure the numbers don’t shoot back up.”

Halved banking complaints suggest a return to the norm

There were 4,373 complaints related to banking, almost half (47%) the number made in 2021 (8,202). However, this figure is still higher than the 4,183 reported in 2019, suggesting 2022 represents a return to the norm rather than real progress, and that there are still improvements to make.

Despite the number of overall complaints about automated calls dropping significantly, the 2,904 reported in banking dwarfed the numbers on live calls or texts. Banks must consider whether the cost savings of switching away from using live agents are instead creating a negative impact on customer relationships.

“Looking at the reasons for this drop, the ongoing success of Open Banking means a record number of people switched their current account last year. Starting afresh with a new bank, and ideally an improved relationship, may have been a driver for some people to complain less,” said Andrew Stevens, Principal, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, Quadient. “On face value the results indicate banks’ investments in training and scripts for live calls are paying off, with fewer than one thousand complaints made about live calls.”

Insurers show slow but steady improvement

The number of complaints relating to insurance (3,187) was down by less than other key industries, dropping 13% from 2021’s 3,851. The vast majority of complaints – 2,875 – were related to live calls, suggesting that this is still insurers’ preferred method of communicating with customers.

“The insurance industry has shifted in favour of customers in the last year, with new FCA rules delivering fairer home and motor insurance premiums,” said Mark Summers, Head of Insurance – Enterprise, Quadient. “This shift will also have an impact on calls to customers, with fewer marketing calls made by insurers offering cheap introductory rates. While the fact that insurers are focused on live calls instead of SMS or automated calls suggests a focus on true one-on-one communications, there is evidently still work to do to ensure that every contact is seen as relevant and useful by the consumer.”

Energy suppliers power down complaints

There were 1,313 complaints relating to energy supply, down more than half from the 2,602 reported in 2021 and almost two-thirds (64%) compared to 2019, suggesting 2022 was a highly unusual year. This year, most complaints (883) were about live calls, suggesting suppliers could identify scenarios where alternative channels are more appropriate.

“Energy suppliers have had a lot of bad news to communicate as prices spiked over the last year, so it might be surprising to see the number of complaints fall. One explanation is that suppliers will have decided to keep communications to a minimum, potentially limiting the number of negative interactions with customers,” said Alan Newman, Enterprise Manager – Utilities and Telecom, Quadient. “Companies are already using technology to reduce the need for possible nuisance calls – for instance, many allow customers to give remote meter readings at a time that suits them, rather than calling to ask for a reading. If companies can keep customer communication as easy and frictionless as possible, they should see a consistent fall in the number of complaints.”

Additional insights

Most nuisance calls were reported in the beginning of the year, with the highest numbers in January, February, March and April before a second peak in November. This suggests that whether they are from legitimate companies or otherwise, nuisance callers are following a distinct pattern of behaviour.

There were also signs that some calls were almost certainly spam. For instance, there were 892 complaints about calls related to COVID-19, and 262 related to PPI, even though the PPI deadline passed in 2019. To avoid being associated with spammers and scammers, businesses must be absolutely certain they are no longer contacting people relating to issues whose relevance has largely passed.

Complaints around pensions fell by the largest proportion, dropping 67% to 113. Conversely, gambling nuisance calls bucked the trend – complaints increased by 28% year-on-year. And finally, consumers are similarly irritated by nuisance calls around adult content (225), call blockers (219) and payday loans (258).

Clausematch, a technology company developing solutions for regulatory compliance, is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with Compliance Consultant, experts in FCA compliance and authorisation. The partnership is aimed at strengthening current compliance strategies and best practices with advanced policy management and compliance automation solutions. 

Compliance Consultant provides regulatory compliance guidance primarily for financial services companies, but with a foot in the telecommunications industry. The majority of businesses in these sectors frequently purchase SaaS products that are expensive, challenging to use, or fail to address the underlying issue because they lack the essential competencies to select such software. Compliance Consultant is positioned in such a way to offer non-exclusive and best-suitable recommendations to the clients when it comes to the use of technology within Compliance. Evenmoreso, as the company often engages with high-growth companies that expand geographically, operating in different jurisdictions. 

"Strategic partners are essential for any organisation today and there's definitely a trend towards using more technology. Before looking to build the network, I was looking inside what we do, and then finding people that can help us achieve that. At Compliance Consultant, we're aware of the increasingly high importance of good governance, the adoption of best practices, technology and providing coherent strategies for our clients in the complicated and ever-changing world of financial regulation. We do a lot to enhance our clients' governance, enhance their operations to process redesign, if necessary. 

And when it comes to financial regulatory compliance, you don’t simply need to be right - you have to record it in the right way. Clausematch's platform capabilities such as the real-time collaborative editor, the compliance audit trail allow you to precisely evidence every beat of compliance in front of the regulators.  We see that more and more sensible companies are looking towards technology to assist them in doing their job because the compliance burden is increasing. Making compliance work for the businesses, by saving them fines and regulatory supervision and helping them sleep at night is our goal," - Lee Werrell, founder and owner at the Compliance Consultant commented. 

Claudia Coutinho-De Somma, EMEA Account Executive at Clausematch, says: "We're delighted to be collaborating with Compliance Consultant. We understand that at Clausematch we can provide the right tooling to alleviate the pain generally related to document management within a regulated firm, so we’re glad to have the staff at Compliance Consultant see and support the value we can offer, and make the right recommendations to their clients. 

The need for high-quality software for policy management and regulatory compliance is growing. With the FCA Consumer Duty on the horizon, MiCA coming in force in July 2023 and other crypto regulations looming, keeping up with regulatory obligations is becoming more and more challenging. 

Clausematch has a proven track record as a RegTech global leader. It was selected as a part of several incubators and programmes, including FinTech Innovation Lab London and New York, Lloyd’s Lab, LawTechUK Sandbox Pilot, and the Barclays Accelerator Program, to name a few. Being involved in these programs allowed the Clausematch team to share its solution with industry experts, hearing their feedback and understanding how best to adapt the platform to targeted companies’ needs. The partnership with Compliance Consultant will allow Clausematch to bring its SaaS compliance products to highly-regulated companies.

Insify, the modern insurtech for SMEs, has raised an additional €10 million, bringing its total Series A funding to €25 million.

Munich Re Ventures led the extension round and was joined by existing investors including global venture fund Accel – who led Insify’s Series A – Frontline Ventures and Berlin’s Visionaries Club, as well as new investors including Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg and Opera Tech Ventures, the VC arm of BNP Paribas Group. The fresh funding will be used to continue expanding Insify’s suite of products while expanding into additional European markets.

Business insurance is a huge pain point for SMEs, with legacy insurers offering complicated policies which are overpriced, outdated and cumbersome to use. Despite the huge size of the European market – over €150bn – current players are still lagging behind when it comes to providing a digital, seamless experience that companies have come to expect, and many SMEs are stuck with no coverage at all.

Insify is revolutionising the business insurance sector by offering an end-to-end digital insurance platform designed specifically for Europe’s entrepreneurs and SMEs. The company, founded in 2020 by former Bloomon and Rocket Internet executive Koen Thijssen, allows SMEs to receive a business insurance quote in as little as two minutes, rather than weeks or months.

The company’s innovative platform utilises enhanced data analytics drawing on dozens of signals, as opposed to stale questionnaires, to ensure that coverage is tailored and individually priced for each business. Policies are refreshed regularly through automated checks and underwriting, evolving as SMEs themselves scale.

Since raising a €15 million Series A funding round in 2022, Insify has grown its customer base from 1,500 to over 10,000, expanded into France and Germany, and launched its own disability insurance product in the Netherlands.

Insify will use the capital injection primarily to expand further across the continent, with an initial focus on doubling down in Germany and France. The company will also use the additional funding to further develop and consolidate its suite of insurance products and to grow its team of 55 employees.

Koen Thijssen, CEO and founder of Insify, said: “Insify is modernising and optimising the €150bn European business insurance market. As an entrepreneur myself, I have experienced first-hand how SMEs are underserved when it comes to business insurance, with many legacy providers failing to offer a digital-friendly, streamlined and competitive offering – meaning that many businesses simply go without cover. Our rapid growth since our previous funding round in 2022 shows the desire and need for better insurance solutions from freelancers and SMEs across the continent. We are incredibly excited to raise fresh funding today, helping us on our mission to transform the world of business insurance and make it faster, simple and fairer for entrepreneurs everywhere.”

Ben Bergsma, Principal at Munich Re Ventures, said: “The sheer size of the European commercial insurance market is staggering, yet existing product offerings are rarely tailored towards the needs of small businesses specifically. The Insify team has created a compelling and sleek insurance product portfolio for European entrepreneurs, while also maintaining their strong focus on the underlying economics of the policies. We’re very excited to be partnering with the company as it expands throughout continental Europe.”

GTreasury, a leading provider of integrated treasury management and risk management systems, today announced a strategic partnership with C2FO, the world’s on-demand working capital platform. Together, GTreasury and C2FO are able to provide treasurer customers a comprehensive cash management and early payment solution that improves liquidity forecasting and optimizes cash flow.

In addition to solving everyday liquidity needs, corporations are navigating economic shifts and tightening lending standards that will reduce access to capital. Flexible liquidity management solutions that support end-to-end cash visibility are vital for continued enterprise growth and planning. To proactively respond to changing market conditions and liquidity needs, customers can use GTreasury’s comprehensive suite of products to monitor current and future costs, portfolio value, and cash reserves. They can also predict future liquidity requirements using GTreasury’s AI-powered SmartPredictions cash forecasting tool.

C2FO’s working capital platform is a natural complement to GTreasury’s cash management solutions. The partnership will enable enterprises to unlock liquidity and improve cash flow by accelerating payments to their suppliers, either using their balance sheet or C2FO’s global network of funding partners. Treasurers can also seamlessly accelerate payment on their invoices to quickly access cash on demand and improve cash conversion cycles. The partnership will provide businesses with real-time, holistic visibility of their cash positions, enabling them to deploy cash or accelerate payments to meet critical cash management goals.

“We are thrilled to partner with GTreasury to provide enterprises with a best-in-class comprehensive liquidity solution,” said C2FO’s Senior Vice President of Partnerships, Allison Baker. “Through our partnership, enterprises will be able to leverage both sides of their balance sheet to access the liquidity they need to navigate today’s rapidly changing environment.”

“This is an exciting time for GTreasury as our customers continue to benefit from our growing ecosystem,” said GTreasury’s Global Head of Corporate Development, Terry Beadle. “With this strategic partnership with C2FO, we are delivering on our commitment to provide a suite of best-in-breed products for Treasury, Risk, and Capital Efficiency. This partnership will allow our customers to extend their treasury workflow, resulting in further optimization and management of their cash.”

Nexdesk, a new B2B self-service digital asset OTC trading desk, is now available to all users across Europe. Partnering with Lithuanian licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) Nexpay, it allows users to conduct both crypto and banking operations in a single platform, with IBAN accounts provided for SEPA transfers.

The new self-service Nexdesk platform enables B2B businesses to execute trades at any time and offers a wide selection of the most demanded assets in the industry, including EUR, USDC, BTC, USDT, and ETH. Crypto-to-fiat and crypto-to-crypto trading is possible with a straightforward three-step onboarding procedure to access bank and trading services. 

“Our team has almost a decade of experience in the crypto and payment industries. We know the needs of business clients, and we know how to meet them. The crypto winter is forcing companies to look for new opportunities, and OTC trading desks already play an integral role in the operations of digital assets. So, we launch Nexdesk as a reliable, secure, and innovative financial solution for businesses seeking to participate in the blockchain industry," said Sofian Berrahal, CEO of Nexdesk.

Nexdesk primarily serves industries such as Crypto exchanges, Payment providers, FOREX brokers, consulting, marketing, and other agencies. Supervised by the Lithuanian FIU and strictly following European AML regulations, Nexdesk ensures the safety and security of its users. 

“The OTC desk permits customers to execute large-volume trades with minimal price slippage. Partnering with Nexdesk, we aim to provide a seamless user experience while prioritising compliance, security, and customer satisfaction. As a licenced EMI, Nexpay abides by strict rules, and all customer funds are kept in segregated client accounts within the Bank of Lithuania, which is an integral part of the Eurosystem, giving our clients a very high level of security,” said Uldis Tēraudkalns, CEO at Nexpay.