Industry trends: data sharing and open communication at financial institutions
As the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) is set to start operating in 2025, smart financial institutions are already preparing. How are leading players using technology like Harmoney to improve their compliance processes?
In its continuous effort to fight money laundering, the EU Commission is bolstering its Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) initiative. As was decided in February of this year, the AMLA will be based out of Frankfurt and should be fully operational by mid-2025. Supported by data-driven financial intelligence units, this new authority will rigorously monitor financial institutions' compliance efforts. Combined with increasing regulatory demands and scrutiny from national authorities, financial institutions across Europe must prepare for change.
Using cutting-edge technology like our own Harmoney compliance platform, leading financial players are already working hard on their data interoperability, sharing, transparency and communication in anticipation of these legislative changes. What key factors are helping financial institutions move towards safe data and file sharing practices on all levels? And how can they leverage them to build a competitive edge? Let’s dive in.
Anticipating regulatory changes
In response to the introduction of the AMLA, compliance officers are increasingly prioritising the sharing of information across banks and brokers. This makes it easier to spot relevant trends (such as new types of fraud), helping the sector move forward as a whole. Historically, discussing these types of issues between competitors used to be frowned upon, but things are changing. This is primarily due to the changing role of compliance teams within organisations. Where compliance was once viewed as a hindrance to other business departments, it is now recognised as the vital component that it is, actively preventing issues and streamlining day-to-day operations to foster future growth opportunities at other departments.
Organisations are recognising that constructing an effective AML requires collaboration with solution providers who share the same mindset. This ties in neatly with the key concerns that we highlighted in our previous blog post on AML Forum Madrid.
Building a customer-centric approach
In addition to the regulatory compliance aspect, information and file sharing helps financial players to better serve end clients. Forward-thinking institutions prioritise improving their customer experience through personalised services, while keeping workflows as frictionless and seamless as possible. AML compliance with end clients in mind not only attracts and retains clients, but also builds trust. Open communication and data sharing with existing partners and tools helps financial services to gain deeper insights into customer preferences, in turn enabling them to develop tailored financial products and services more effectively.
Turning new legislation into opportunities for data sharing at financial services
Understanding that proactive data sharing can move your business forward is key. Compliance frameworks must not only be reviewed in light of current regulations, but also in relation to future developments on the horizon. Consider the retail banking sector, for example, where banks throughout Europe embraced the opportunity presented by the PSD2 open banking regulation, in a bid to create new everything apps that used compulsory data sharing from third-party financial service providers to transcend traditional banking services.
Open communication and data sharing with Harmoney
How do we tap into the need for data sharing at Harmoney? A few key benefits of our compliance orchestration platform:
1. Client-centric by design
Every single aspect about Harmoney is fully client-centric by design. Typical tools and platforms for financial institutions either start from a process-centric or organisation-centric approach. While the latter two set-ups might help financial players for a predefined purpose, they are inherently flawed and more difficult to scale. A client-centric approach that truly puts end customers at the heart of every interaction helps organisations to deliver added value.
2. Reuse of data across different business departments
Our client-focused strategy enables financial institutions to reuse existing data in new customer flows and processes across different business units. For instance, an end client’s financial passport or profile, containing their personal preferences and characteristics, can be repurposed in new compliance procedures to identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities in other departments.
3. Data enrichment and data validation opportunities
On the Harmoney platform, existing customer profiles can be enhanced with additional data from various sources in the IT ecosystem, such as external databases (e.g. ID validation or blacklist screening providers). This allows financial players to create tailored compliance processes that meet both internal and external reporting requirements, including those outlined in the wider ESG framework.
Harmoney offers a cutting-edge digital platform that streamlines intricate onboarding and compliance procedures, featuring automated screening functionalities. Interested in discovering more about our innovative solution? Reach out to us for further details!