On March 31, in Vilnius, ACAMS Baltic Chapter symposium was held, which was dedicated to current affairs in the field of AML/CFT and sanctions.
Briefly about the current sanctions challenges:
- Ability to respond quickly to newly imposed sanctions. First of all, both the public and private sectors need time to update the sanctions lists. Secondly, it is necessary to translate and perform additional technical work that cannot be completed in seconds. Automated sanctions screening service providers also require up to 48 hours to update the existing sanctions lists, and here the manual work often plays highly important role.
- We remember that Sanctions law is binding on absolutely everyone and it is extremely important to apply the sanctions correctly. Here, however, another issue appears, which is connected to international companies that operate in several countries. It becomes more and more difficult to implement a single screening procedure fo applying r sanctions, due to the fact that each country has its own legislative norms, and each country interprets sanctions restrictions differently.
- The demand for personnel capable of ensuring compliance with sanctions has increased several times. It takes about 2 months to attract new specialists, but sanctions, as we all know, should be applied immediately. Entrepreneurs are doing everything possible to reorganize existing processes and train employees as quickly as possible in order to apply the sanctions requirements. There is a number of entrepreneurs who seek help in solving such issues from outsourcing service providers.
- Pati apspriestākā tēma, ne tikai sankciju, bet arī NILLTPFN kontekstā bija un ir – vienoti reģistri (PLG un citi). Latvijā jau ir ieviests PLG reģistrs un šādi tiek atrisināts jautājums par vietējo kompāniju sankciju pārbaudēm, bet tas neatrisina citu jautājumu – ko darīt, ja uzņēmums sadarbojas ar nerezidentu un informācija par to saistītajām personām nav atrodama publiski pieejamos resursos. Šajā gadījumā uzņēmējam nav iespējas veikt precīzu sankciju riska esamības noteikšanu.
- There is no universal tool in the world that would provide an automated full-cycle sanctions screening, therefore the involvement of intellectual work created by an experienced specialist is an indispensable part of the screening.
To make sanctions screening easier for entrepreneurs, specialized solutions offered by local and international service providers that have introduced sanctions lists screening in one place can be used. One of such service providers is Atbilst, which now allows you to screen against not only sanctions lists applied in Latvia, but also against more than 300 sanctions lists, PEPs, its relatives and close associates lists integrated in the internationally recognized Dow Jones Risk & Compliance database. On the other hand, it is possible to engage a qualified, who will provide a professional service in any issue related to sanctions.
Elina Nebritova
Atbilst expert
