DECEMBER 2021CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9While "Know Your Customer" (KYC) is an integral part of financial crime risk and control processes, knowing the internal customer who will receive the analytical product seems sometimes not to be the caseFrancisco Mainezframework where analysts know which systems to query and data to download and analyse. While it seems a simple, common sense exercise, the reality is that in a fast evolving environment where some resources along the chain might not necessarily be financial crime experts. This simple framework that defines initial steps in the right direction can save time and help getting close to the intended mark. In a recent exercise, the author of this article requested a list of transactions, only to be presented at the end of a long extraction process with debit only data. While it may seem logical to think that the term "transaction" would also include credit ones, it clearly was not for the operator, who had recently transferred to the team and wasn't familiar yet with financial crime analytics.Dissemination& feedback: how was it?While "Know Your Customer" (KYC) is an integral part of financial crime risk and control processes, knowing the internal customer who will receive the analytical product seems sometimes not to be the case. Too often, reporting templates are developed to display the same metrics that might have been relevant once but could have easily seen its scope diluted over time.Analytic teams need to be able to understand their audience and tailor the product not only to the required specifications but also manage contents so the recipient can quickly understand and apply the insights to the decision making process or incorporate into the relevant knowledge base. For example: an analysis on Transaction Monitoring scenario effectiveness will likely include a broad series of conclusions and recommendations backed up by extensive technical data on customer segments and escalation rates. On the other hand, an analysis to identify money laundering exposure on key markets intended for senior managers should include short and concise messages highlighting areas where risk might be outside appetite and where thresholds have been breached.Feedback is essential to prevent repeating mistakes and improve efficiency. Best learning occurs through mistakes, but success lies in identifying what went wrong and be flexible enough to change direction. Never too much dataIn a fast-moving data driven world where every footprint produces a piece of information that can be quickly stored, it's easy to get lost and miss targets, when expectations are high and requirements unclear. Technology is an amazing enabler in the fight against Financial Crime but it is still up to humans to avoid being overwhelmed by huge volumes and build a knowledge framework where data can be harnessed and maximized to support decision making.
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