What is AML compliance? 

In order to clamp down on money laundering and the financing of terrorism regulatory entities across the globe have placed several responsibilities on companies and service providers to make it difficult for criminals to make use of their illicitly obtained funds.

On a local level the Financial Investigations Analysis Unit (FIAU) and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), among others, are responsible for overseeing the local industry and making sure that ‘subject persons’ like financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Business and Professionals (DNFPBs) are doing their part to identify, and report, any suspicious activity. 

DNFPBs include businesses such as, accountants, lawyers, notaries, real estate agents, and company service providers, to name a few. 

How does AML affect your business?

Generally speaking, subject persons are obliged to carry out customer due diligence on their clients including on their source of funds and wealth before offering their services, and then to monitor that client regularly, to ensure that due diligence is up to date. 

Ultimately, it is incumbent upon subject persons to ensure that their clients are acting within the remit of the law, and with enforcement having been substantially beefed up in recent years, it isn’t worth taking the risk of finding out what your obligations are after you’re already in breach of the law or after your client has featured in some adverse media. 

How to stay AML compliant

If you’re thinking this all sounds very daunting and complicated, you’re right. The financial world is extremely complicated, as are the systems used by criminals to launder their ill-gotten gains. 

This is where Lexco comes in. With its highly experienced multidisciplinary team, Lexco offers a complete compliance solution catered to the needs of your business.

“The biggest difficulty subject persons face today is that they are obliged to create adequate compliance measures which need to be executed and maintained. This requires resources and expertise which are not usually readily available in-house,” Lexco founder Dr. Malcolm Mallia told Lovin Malta. 

“This is where we come in. Our experienced team can advise on all types of compliance obligations.”

Lexco’s team is composed of professionals with industry experience, some also having worked with the financial regulator and are hence perfectly positioned to guide you through all the hurdles standing in the way of your complete compliance responsibilities. 

State-of-the-art software will make compliance that much easier 

In addition to experienced anti-money laundering (AML) advisory services, Lexco also offers state-of-the-art software to simplify the due diligence and risk assessment process. 

The increased compliance demands nowadays requires the use of software that is able to monitor and keep track of all the documentation associated with a client and their dealings. 

“The software we use is globally recognised and award winning, (REGTECH 100 ) which, when coupled with our team’s wealth of experience, puts us in a unique position because clients benefit from high-end AML software together with the backing of our highly-skilled and experienced compliance team,” Dr Mallia said.

Rather than just providing you with a software product, Lexco helps companies create a system that is tailored for them and continues to provide assistance in all aspects of their compliance including assistance with keeping up with the ever changing regulations.

“With Lexco you don’t buy AML software only to then have to start thinking about what content to include or how to create a customer risk assessment system. We set up the business almost 10 years ago and our experienced compliance team have worked in compliance for many years.

We provide a one stop shop, ready-to-use customisable AML software solution,” Dr Mallia noted. 

Leaving you with sufficient time to focus on your business

Lexco’s mission is to ensure that its clients truly have peace of mind when it comes to AML and regulatory compliance.

“We also provide support with any compliance obligation, including manuals, business risk assessment, training and audits to ensure firms are prepared for inspections by competent authorities. Whatever the obligation is, we’ve got you covered.”

Lexco understands that AML compliance can be very time-consuming and laborious, especially to those who might not have experience in the sector. As such, making sure you have all risk areas covered can take up a considerable amount of time that hampers the productivity of running a business.

Ultimately, Dr Malllia said, Lexco wants to offer businesses and firms peace of mind, knowing that their AML and regulatory compliance obligations are being duly observed and fulfilled.

For more information on what Lexco can do for your business, visit their website or Facebook page, or drop them an email on [email protected]