Ask any corporate services provider or any other Anti-Money Laundering compliance practitioner to tell you what the most difficult part of AML compliance is, and you are bound to hear stories of complex processes riddled with paperwork, endless spreadsheets, and multiple sources of information to manage. And the looming yearly FIAU Risk Evaluation Questionnaire (REQ) of course.
Sensing an opportunity in the market for a software solution that would help manage the AML compliance process, InScope was born more than five years ago. The team behind the product consists of experts in AML and software development. Marcel Cutajar, Matthew Rizzo and Matthew Scerri all run their own, very successful software companies while Victor Rizzo is an AML consultant with over 20 years’ experience.
As Victor explained: “The fight against money laundering and the funding of terrorism has an international dimension, with all Subject Persons in the EU having to comply with the relevant directives. This international dimension is reflected in our customer base, as today InScope supports customers in 5 countries, and the list is growing every day.”
“Alongside the international aspects of AML, the local dimension in every jurisdiction is equally important, with each country’s financial intelligence unit entrusted with managing the processes to combat money laundering and the funding of terrorism. And here lies the strength of InScope; it’s ability to be aligned to the stringent requirements of international regulation but also flexible enough to be adapted to each jurisdiction’s local requirements, in each and every country that the solution is offered.”
So what is InScope?
“InScope is a solution which allows you to bring together in one place all the scattered information and processes associated with a manual or spreadsheet-based system, providing you with a centralised and complete view of the status of your AML risk processes and the risk classification of your customers, based on your own risk rules, policies and procedures,” Victor explained.
“InScope’s intuitive, browser-based interface also provides you with the ability to generate ad-hoc or regular reports for management and regulatory authorities, including reports that facilitate the completion of the REQ required by the FIAU in Malta. Apart from monitoring the OFAC list and the local Asset Recovery Bureau list, the tool also automates the ongoing monitoring of EU and UN sanctions in line with the obligations under the National Interests (Enabling Powers) Act. While InScope is not a KYC screening solution, it can work alongside any international database system to provide a comprehensive AML solution.”
“Moving to InScope from an existing AML solution which is not serving its purpose, or from a manual or spreadsheet-based system is straight-forward. After an initial call which will allow us to understand a company’s needs better, we will proceed to migrate the existing data, at the same time as train the company’s staff on how to get the full potential of the solution. The focus remains on the alignment of InScope to the client’s own specific risk appetite framework.”
Victor concluded: “Already after the first few weeks our customers understand why InScope’s main message is ‘Compliance made easy.’”