Insights

The impacts of Brexit on Watch-List Screening

EU Flag

Since Brexit, the UK has been coming to terms with new rules, and being no longer subject to EU sanctions regulations is one of them. What this means is that all sanctions regimes will now be implemented through UK regulations. 

New UK sanctions regimes came into force under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (the Sanctions Act) as of 11pm on 31 December 2020. These new regimes apply to the whole of the UK, including in Northern Ireland.

What does this mean for you?

As a result of this update, this could significantly impact the efficiency of screening tools and generate an increased number of false positives as changes are occurring across multiple fields in the Watchlist, such as new aliases and other identifying information.

Making sure you are compliant 

Financial organisations need to ensure that they are fully compliant with the new regulations. This means checking that their systems and processes are tuned to include the recent updates and that they are prepared to potentially re-screen entities, individuals and vessels if required. 

Watch-List screening vendors should be providing up-to-date data in line with the new regulations. However, it is the responsibility of companies to demonstrate their understanding about the changes, as authorities will be closely checking to ensure adherence to the rules. Failure to do so could result in substantial fines and detrimentally impact the organisations reputation. 

Preparation steps

At Contineo FRS, we understand the implications these changes can have on financial institutions. We can help you perform impact assessments for your business, check if your software screening rules are up-to-date and provide reports to reassure your adherence to the new regulations, as well as guarantee an efficient system.

Share This Post

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get updates and learn from the best

More To Explore

What to learn from recent regulatory fines

In the last year, several large fines were issued to financial institutions by regulators for failure to comply with AML regulations. In this article, three of them will be explored to find similarities and key learning points for other financial institutions…

Contact Us