4 top tips for managing your AML

You have to do AML — but it doesn't have to take your whole day. Read our 4 top tips for managing your AML/CFT programme better.

1. Get the business working as a team

Your frontline staff, compliance team, and management must work together as a team to meet the business AML obligations.

• Management must uphold the importance of compliance – supporting the Compliance Officer in enforcing the AML/CFT requirements, following due process, and encouraging staff to be diligent in following due process.
• The Compliance Officer must know the rules of AML and how to apply them to the business, making sure that all staff understand why they have AML obligations, what they are and how to perform them, and providing resources and training to help them meet the business obligations.
• Staff must follow the rules of AML as set out in the business Compliance Programme, including thorough onboarding, notifying the Compliance Officer of any suspicious activity, and completing training on time.

2. Sort your workflow upfront

• Get advice on who should do what for each stage of your AML workflow.
• Create a plan and record it in your Compliance Programme.
• Make sure each staff member understands the role they must play in AML management and give them the opportunity to ask questions / clarify anything with the Compliance Officer that they don’t understand.
• Action your plan.

3. Make strategic use of technology

Most businesses still manage their AML manually across multiple spreadsheets, paper documents, and filing cabinets. There are great technology options out there that speed up the process and make it easier to control.

For example, electronic Identity Verification tools do away with the need to photocopy, file, and store Customer Due Diligence documents. Cloud storage lets you keep all documents in one place for easy access and management. And outsourcing CDD keeps you on track when dealing with things like complex trusts or when it’s awkward to ask for source of funds/wealth.

Incorporate these into your AML workflows into your Compliance Programme to save time and gain better oversight and control.

4. Get your staff trained

If staff don’t know why AML is important, if they keep making mistakes, or anyone needs refreshers in areas of AML, get them up to speed with training courses. Staff who are well-trained in AML, understand what’s expected of them, and why they need to take action will be more efficient in performing their share of AML and more likely to do it right the first time.

There are a good range of training courses on offer year-round that cover everything from AML/CFT Compliance Officer Step-By-Step, Customer Due Diligence, Advanced AML/CFT, and refreshers, to keep your staff up to speed.

Make sure you select the right training for the right people, and log who took the training. Remember, in AML management, if it's not written down, it didn't happen!

Take action to create efficiencies in your AML execution

While AML adds to the workload of businesses captured under the act, following its rules is important for capturing and preventing Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism.

These top tips will help you create efficiencies in implementing your Compliance Programme by making AML a manageable set of activities that flow seamlessly alongside your business-as-usual work, giving you better control and peace of mind.

Did you know you can do all this and more with AMLHUB?

AMLHUB software is designed by NZ's leading AML consultants to manage all aspects of your AML/CFT programme in one cloud-based location.

With tools and resources that cover the entire AML lifecycle, AMLHUB helps you reduce the time you spend on AML while increasing your overall compliance, at the lowest cost to your business.

See it in action by requesting your demo!