The tightened AML regulations place ever higher demands on Swedish companies to strengthen their customer due diligence and meet strict compliance requirements. Kleer saw the opportunity and used real-time data and automation to improve its AML and KYC processes. By integrating customer data APIs, they carried out thorough reviews and streamlined their compliance work, reducing manual work and distributing responsibility across the organisation. The introduction of monitoring solutions also further strengthened process quality and minimised administration.

The tightened requirements for compliance with anti-money laundering regulations from authorities are increasing the pressure on Swedish companies to have deeper knowledge of their customers than ever before. Risk assessments, data collection and accuracy, updating information, and reporting suspicious activities to the authorities. The list of regulatory requirements could go on and on.

Certain industries have recently come under scrutiny and received heavy fines as a result of inadequate processes, lack of accurate customer data, or even enabling money laundering. Car dealers, sellers of exclusive goods such as watches or jewellery, and the real estate industry are just some of the sectors that have recently experienced the sharp oversight of the law. The accounting industry is another sector that is under investigation and subject to supervision by the County Administrative Board in Sweden. Companies now face compliance work that is time-consuming, resource-intensive and dependent on specialist expertise in order to avoid legal issues. Industry innovator Kleer saw an opportunity in the increased requirements to improve AML and KYC processes through real-time data and automation.

- The compliance requirements are quite strict, especially when you hold certain permits from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. We must be able to ensure full KYC compliance, as well as flag if we suspect money laundering or other irregularities. This puts pressure on us not only to find solutions, but to find solutions that are long-term and sustainable for our business,” says Amalia Lundin, Product Owner at Kleer.

The solution

By integrating customer data APIs into its platform, Kleer carries out reviews of customer information, including board members, authorised signatories, beneficial owners, and their respective status on PEP, RCA and sanctions lists. Using APIs to collect and verify data has made compliance work smooth and simple, reducing time-consuming administrative work while ensuring process quality.

Kleer believes that this has enabled them to distribute responsibility across more people in the organisation, without it becoming a burden or a heavy workload.

- With Roaring’s API services, we can collect all the necessary information before carrying out a qualified risk analysis and assessment in our own interface. This enables our managers to carry out checks and analyse risks based on accurate, real-time updated customer data. The solution is scalable as we grow and reduces our manual work, which is fantastic,” says Amalia Lundin.

Adding more value

In addition to the successful launch of API solutions that facilitate the KYC process, Kleer has implemented monitoring of customer data. This has further reduced manual work, as consultants now only need to respond to automatic notifications of deviations instead of manually updating data in order to detect them.

The introduction of monitoring via webhooks has also provided a higher degree of comfort and security in the process, since even the most regular updates of customer data have time periods in between when you do not know what is happening to the data. Amalia explains:

- We implemented the webhook monitoring service, which is probably the most important part of the solution we have built. This has added great value for us, because consultants only need to act in the event of deviations. It provides increased confidence in process quality while minimising administration.”