Luc Meurant, Chief Executive Officer at Neterium, shares the latest trends and developments in sanctions screening.
What is Neterium?
Created in 2017, Neterium is an API-native regtech company revolutionising financial crime prevention offering unparalleled performance and superior efficiency. Led by a team of financial crime compliance industry experts, Neterium provides Software as a service (SaaS) solutions combining the benefits of the latest technologies with in-depth financial crime compliance knowledge.
At Neterium, we support financial institutions' anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations with two real-time API solutions:
Jetscan: Screens and monitors counterparties for compliance with sanctions, AML, and anti-corruption laws as part of KYC.
Jetflow: Screens financial transactions against sanctions and embargo lists to enforce financial sanctions and combat terrorist financing.
The evolution of global sanctions has impacted financial institutions’ screening processes. From 2001 to 2021, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) sanction designations surged by over 900%, diversifying into sectoral and targeted sanctions, thus increasing complexity.
This led to a dramatic rise in alert volume, from hundreds monthly in 2001 to tens of thousands daily in 2021. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine further escalated sanctions, with new designations up by 250% and US and European lists growing by 30%. Legacy screening systems are now inadequate, as even one illegal payment slipping through can result in high penalties and severe reputational damage.
Taking this into account, Neterium has aimed since 2017 to create the world's best screening engine, accessible through a high-performance API. In 2022, a platform partner tested the Neterium engine, showing it could handle 40 million transactions per hour with very precise results. The engine offers extreme configurability, allowing each request to be customised with specific lists, policies, and parameters, offering a solution addressing the global rise of sanctions and transaction volumes.
AI is often marketed as the ultimate solution for all financial crime compliance (FCC) challenges, promising improved screening, monitoring, and unparalleled fraud detection. However, the reality is more nuanced. At Neterium, we bridge the gap between inflated expectations and reality with ‘Practical AI’: our solutions leverage our AI models to enhance screening accuracy and reduce false positives. This allows compliance teams to concentrate on genuine threats. Fewer alerts translate to better quality, lower costs, and seamless operational processes, ensuring compliance remains fast and transparent. Moreover, our AI solutions adhere to our ‘zero-footprint’ approach: we never store personally identifiable information provided for screening. This ensures users are not exposing any privileged information when using our APIs, which is crucial in regions with stringent privacy regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Improving sanctions screening is crucial for financial institutions to meet regulatory obligations and reduce risks. I would say the key elements to focus on are:
Regularly updating screening lists and enhancing data quality.
Applying a risk-based approach to prioritise high-risk transactions and customers.
Staying informed on sanctions regulations and adjusting processes accordingly.
Ensuring screening systems are flexible and scalable to accommodate regulatory changes and growing data volumes.
Overall, investing in advanced FCC technology, such as solutions offered by Neterium, is essential for handling higher transaction volumes and addressing sanctions effectively.
About Luc Meurant
Luc Meurant is the CEO of Neterium. Luc has 25 years of experience and a proven track record of innovation and community leadership in the payments and Financial Crime Compliance areas. He led the development and global roll-out of many award-winning technology solutions. He is a seasoned public speaker and held numerous senior leadership roles at SWIFT, McKinsey, and JPMorgan.
About Neterium
Created in 2017, Neterium is an API-native RegTech company revolutionising Financial Crime Prevention. Neterium is led by a team of Financial Crime Compliance industry experts. Neterium provides innovative SaaS solutions combining the benefits of the latest technologies with in-depth financial crime compliance knowledge. Neterium teams up with partners and clients to add advanced screening capabilities to their platforms and solutions.
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