{"id":6214,"date":"2021-11-22T15:09:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T14:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=6214"},"modified":"2021-11-22T15:10:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T14:10:58","slug":"the-pandora-papers-highlight-the-importance-of-watchlists-as-part-of-kyc-and-aml-efforts-by-barley-laing-the-uk-managing-director-at-melissa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=6214","title":{"rendered":"The Pandora Papers highlight the importance of watchlists as part of KYC and AML efforts By Barley Laing, the UK Managing Director at Melissa"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Barley Laing, UK Managing Director at Melissa<\/p><\/div>\n

The Pandora Papers have focused attention on the sometimes questionable and corrupt practises of the politically connected and super wealthy.<\/p>\n

They highlight how important it is for the public sector to have access to international sanctions lists or watchlists from governments and regulators of persons who are prohibited from certain activities and industries as part of their know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks. A key part of this is obtaining data on politically exposed persons (PEPs).<\/p>\n

In the UK, organisations have a legal requirement to undertake enhanced checks of both domestic and foreign PEPs. Doing so helps public bodies to avoid the possibility of hefty fines and brand damage resulting from the negative publicity associated with having someone already known to the authorities fraudulently claiming benefits or other services.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to identify PEPs due to the lack of a universally agreed definition of what constitutes one. The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) defines a PEP as \u2018an individual who is or has been entrusted with a prominent public function\u2019. They are typically heads of state, government ministers, MPs, senior members of the judiciary, those on the boards of state-owned companies and central banks, and senior civil servants.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to realise it\u2019s not enough to identify PEPs, as their relatives or close associates (RCAs) may also be involved in abetting possible fraudulent behaviour, so they must be screened for too.<\/p>\n

There are several best practices for sourcing watchlists that contain PEPs and their RCAs:<\/p>\n