Socure Offers Advice for Sanctions Compliance

Socure has released a brief primer for organizations that need help navigating the current geopolitical environment. The company noted that watchlists have expanded in the past few weeks, as governments have imposed economic sanctions in an effort to both punish and discourage the individuals believed to be responsible for recent conflicts.

The problem is that most businesses were probably not anticipating an international conflict when they implemented their own screening programs. As a result, they may not be prepared to deal with situations that move as quickly as recent events. New names can be added to watchlists on a daily or even hourly basis as new connections come to light, and that makes it far more difficult for businesses to stay on top of (and prevent) sanctioned activity.

For its part, Socure argues that its Global Watchlist with Monitoring platform can help organizations that want to stay up to date with the latest sanctions lists. The platform offers continuous monitoring capabilities, and will send an alert in real time if anyone on a watchlist tries to open an account. It will also notify administrators if a current customer is added to a sanctions list sometime after the fact.

Socure’s Global Watchlist platform draws on more than 1,100 global sanctions lists, and can help businesses keep tabs on more than 10,000 politically exposed persons (PEP). In doing so, it can help businesses comply with screening and Know Your Customer requirements laid out by the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen), amongst other regulatory bodies.

According to Socure, securing the onboarding process should be a top priority for any company that does business with the public, since blacklisted individuals may seek out new channels to get around their sanctions. Company executives should similarly be briefed on the current state of affairs so they can take the appropriate response if an incident does occur. Finally, organizations are encouraged to perform a risk assessment to make sure their security infrastructure is up to date.

For businesses that want to learn more, Socure will discuss sanctions screening and compliance in greater detail during a webinar at 2pm ET on March 8. The company noted that while the OFAC is ultimately responsible for administering sanctions, businesses will likely face more regulatory scrutiny in the coming months to ensure compliance in the heightened political environment.

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March 8, 2022 – by Eric Weiss