Grew ARR by 300% year-over-year and doubled headcount; plans new hires and offices in 2019
LONDON AND NEW YORK—August 5th, 2019: ComplyAdvantage, the regtech company that uses data science and Machine Learning to neutralize the risk of global financial crimes, today announced its expansion in two top financial services markets, London and New York, to service the growing demand for modern compliance solutions.
ComplyAdvantage opened two commercial offices: Covent Garden in London and Bryant Park in New York, with a third office in Asia-Pacific slated for later this year. Since July 2018, the company has grown in ARR by 300% and more than doubled its headcount, now employing more than 200 people around the world.
“We’re strengthening our foothold in major global financial markets as we continue to build the world’s only global AI-driven database of people and companies to power anti-money laundering and financial crime detection,” said ComplyAdvantage founder and CEO Charlie Delingpole. “Following the 2018 money laundering scandals such as Danske and Swedbank, compliance is now seen as it should be—as a business enabler, and with the right technology, it doesn’t need to be a painful or expensive process.”
Despite stronger regulations, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that $2 trillion is laundered globally every year, while less than 1% of these funds are ever detected. In a recent white paper, “<a href="https://complyadvantage.com/blog/a-new-dawn-for-compliance-whitepaper/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://complyadvantage.com/blog/a-new-dawn-for-compliance-whitepaper/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1565091778565000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF1QZpVGppAE0ALBuQhmDdMvIeyMw">A New Dawn For Compliance</a>,” the company reveals how old compliance solutions are failing and highlights the need for regtech to allow organizations to automate compliance functions to innovate against risk and generate results.
ComplyAdvantage embraces data science and Machine Learning to analyze risk computationally, and actively identifies tens of thousands of risk events from millions of structured and unstructured data points every day. The company’s configurable cloud services help automate and reduce the frustration of detecting fraud and complying with sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) requirements.
“As banks and other organizations work to curb financial crime and get ahead of increasingly complex regulatory demands, they’re looking for an efficient and effective solution that’s tailored to their needs. We’re thrilled to be expanding our business, opening new offices and making key hires so we can help more global companies address their financial crime risk” said Delingpole. 
ComplyAdvantage expects to exceed growth targets by the end of the year and open three more offices globally by the end of 2019.
About ComplyAdvantage
Compliance doesn't have to be painful. ComplyAdvantage gives businesses the financial crime insight they need to take control.
Their data and technology help you to uncover the risk of who you're doing business with, using the world's only dynamic global risk database of people and companies. Their suite of configurable cloud services integrates seamlessly to help automate and reduce the frustration of complying with Sanctions, AML and CFT regulations. 
Founded in 2014 ComplyAdvantage work with over 450 firms across 45 countries. In January of this year, they raised $30 million in their Series B fundraising round led by Index Ventures and joined by Balderton Capital. For more information, go to <a href="http://www.complyadvantage.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.complyadvantage.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1565091778565000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFq2oxdYFe2goOTAlH51SnKnh1ofQ">www.complyadvantage.com</a>.

ComplyAdvantage Expands Across London and New York To Meet Global Demand for AI-Compliance Solutions

Written by Livia Benisty: Head of Financial Crime, ComplyAdvantage on 12/04/19

Livia Benisty shares her financial crime highlights from the week that’s past.
<h2>Standard Chartered fined for sanctions violations, again</h2>
The bank will pay $1.1 billion to four US supervisors and the British FCA. Different articles suggest somewhere between $400mn – around $600mn in illegal transactions for several countries including Iran, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Sudan and Syria.

Some of the activity stemmed from the use of an internet platform where clients accessed USD accounts from Iran which compliance officers failed to block. Clients also made payments from Iran via fax in the Dubai branch, in a deliberate contravention, a manager at the bank told an Iranian front company how to evade detection by changing its name and opening a new account. Reports imply both the employee and the Iranian customers were criminally charged in Washington DC. The amended deferred prosecution agreement is for conspiring to violate sanctions and falsifying New York business records.

Examples given by the FCA made for a fun read, for an AML officer at least, including one customer’s ability to open an account by handing over 3 million UAE dirhams ($816 thousand) in cash in a suitcase with little evidence of the source of funds.

The key thing about the Standard Chartered case is the persistent and deliberate activity spanning several regulatory investigations. In 2004 the bank signed a “written agreement” with the Fed and DFS specifying required changes to their AML procedures. The agreement ended in 2007 but the 2012 <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/enf20122012a2.pdf">Cease and Desist</a> shows deliberate circumvention of US sanctions, particularly against Iran but also involving other sanctioned countries, including those named in the more recent investigation. “From at least 2001 through early 2007, Standard Chartered developed and implemented policies and procedures for processing certain U.S. dollar-denominated funds transfers…that deleted information from payment messages that was necessary for the Branch to determine whether these transactions were carried out in a manner consistent with U.S. law”. They paid US authorities $667mn at that point.
<h2>European Banks are not alone in the spotlight</h2>
The CEOs of Citi, Bank of America, and JP Morgan<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/90a6fc42-5ba2-11e9-939a-341f5ada9d40"> told a congressional</a> hearing they had investigated their customers’ accounts for evidence of possible Russian Money-Laundering. Two executives said they had not found any such activity, while Michael Corbat of Citi said he “could not comment on ongoing investigations”.

I’d like to think this was a wiser stance than saying no activity had been found, especially in the wake of Bonneson’s ‘misleading’ comments regarding Swedbank. However, according to the Wall Street Journal Citi was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2018/09/30/the-banks-that-helped-danske-bank-estonia-launder-russian-money/#2091be5f7319">implicated</a> in the Danske scandal, then again so was Bank of America and JP Morgan. Given the clearing business conducted at these institutions, it’s difficult to imagine that at least some of the funds wouldn’t have touched their accounts, although they may not have had the companies and individuals involved as customers / account holders.

The CEOs came under criticism for other issues at the hearing, such as providing finance to gun manufacturers, paying executives too much, and deliberately forcing customers into overdrafts.

While we’re talking about the never ending Danske scandal…
<h2>Danske Scandal spreads south</h2>
Spanish anti-corruption prosecutors have investigated allegations that €35 million of suspicious Russian money was moved via Moldova, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Estonia through the CaixaBank to individuals in Spain of Russian and ex-Soviet Union origin to buy real estate, car parts, construction equipment, shoes, and other items

About €10 million of the €35 million under investigation was transferred from Danske Bank’s Estonian unit. The funds “have been laundered since 2008 through an international structure of companies, banks and countries that have little-to-no transparency nor financial or procedural collaboration,” according to state Prosecutors.
<h2>N26 questioned by BaFin, identifying numerous shortcomings</h2>
The German financial regulator has identified concerns at app-only bank N26 related to staffing levels, outsourcing and engineering. The crux of the criticism seems to be around processes and staffing levels not keeping up with the company’s growth.

Following in the wake of Revolut this is likely to revive the debate about whether high speed necessarily means compliance weaknesses, making FinTechs less secure generally. N26 stated that “any findings are promptly reviewed, implemented, and monitored…We strive to meet all requirements consistently and take any required measures as quickly as possible”.

This blog can be found here: <a href="https://complyadvantage.com/blog/leading-banks-embroiled-in-financial-crime-scandals-again-the-weekly-round-up/">https://complyadvantage.com/blog/leading-banks-embroiled-in-financial-crime-scandals-again-the-weekly-round-up/</a>

Leading Banks Embroiled In Financial Crime Scandals, Again – The Weekly Round-Up

Written by Livia Benisty: Head of Financial Crime, ComplyAdvantage on 26/04/19

Livia Benisty shares her financial crime highlights from the week that’s past.

In its first <a href="https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-penalizes-peer-peer-virtual-currency-exchanger-violations-anti-money" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">enforcement </a>action against a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanger, FinCEN has penalized a California based cryptocurrency trader for violating the BSA’s registration and reporting requirements. Eric Powers conducted an unregistered peer-to-peer exchange which is required by US law to observe the AML program regarding money transmitters.

Powers is <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/in-first-fincen-penalizes-bitcoin-trader-for-violating-aml-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">accused </a>of processing numerous suspicious transactions – including over 100 related to the Silk Road marketplace – without filing a suspicious activity report (SAR). Many of the transactions also involved the physical exchange of currency worth over $10,000 without filing currency transaction reports (CTRs).

New York State also conducted its first conviction, this time for crypto money laundering. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office named two individuals who laundered $2.8 million through sales of steroids and other drugs via their website and on the dark web.

Bitcoin payments were laundered through intermediary wallets and then converted to US dollars using an exchange platform. In addition to crypto, the defendants accepted fiat currency via Western Union which they then laundered through false identities or international wire transfers from receivers outside the US.
<h2>Unicredit gets largest sanctions fine amidst ongoing US developments</h2>
Italy’s UniCredit S.p.A together with the German and Austrian subsidiaries will pay $1.3 billion to US authorities after pleading guilty to violations of sanctions on Iran and other countries. The fine is one of the highest issued in the US for sanctions related activities, probably reflective of the deliberate and willful activity highlighted in the prosecution.

Not only did the bank engage with the transactions but “work(ed) to cover their tracks to avoid detection”.  According to Bloomberg “the bank’s core compliance team came up with an instructional guide designed to help the bank’s employees work around” the sanctions filtering tool implemented in 2004. The guide explained how to submit payments in an “OFAC-neutral” manner to not trigger any red flags. (I would have loved to be an investigator discovering that guide). The transactions occurred between 2002 and 2011.

Meanwhile, US sanctions policy continues to make news. The Iranian foreign minister stated on Wednesday that Iran will continue to defy US sanctions by finding buyers for its oil, and warned Washington there will be consequences if it tries to stop it. Waivers affecting China, India, and others are set to expire on May 2nd. There have also been many reports about how Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela have been attempting to evade sanctions through various schemes, however, Reuters has corrected a story it published saying Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA had been passing invoices from its oil sail to Russian state energy giant Rosneft. The correction issued this week said Reuters “could not determine payments were made under the proposed arrangement” and “experts see no violation of sanctions”. The story changed after Rosneft threatened to ban the news agency from operating in Russia.
<h2>UK Government releases key AML docs: FCA business plan and HMT open consultation on 5MLD</h2>
The UK Treasury (HMT) released an open consultation regarding the transposition of the Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5MLD). Even in the event of Brexit the UK is currently planning to implement the directive, which HMT states they played a significant role in negotiating. The consultation seeks views on how the government is planning to transpose the directive into UK law and evidence on potential costs and benefits of the changes.

It’s quite a long document, but in reading it I found a few points I found particularly interesting:
<ul>
 	<li>On crypto assets, the consultation asks questions on topics including the appropriate definition to be used, the scale of illicit activity involving crypto assets and the scope of requirements around crypto asset ATMs and peer-to-peer platforms.</li>
 	<li>On electronic money, there are questions as to whether the government should apply the exemptions in 5MLD, and whether payments should be allowed using anonymous cards.</li>
 	<li>On the requirement to do enhanced due diligence (EDD) on business relationships or transactions involving high-risk 3rd countries there are questions around what it means to be ‘involved’ in a relationship or transaction</li>
</ul>
The most crucial point overall though is the question of whether the UK government should go above and beyond 5MLD requirements (called ‘gold-plating’). It’s clear it’s a possibility, however they state only “where there is good evidence that a material ML / TF risk exists that must be addressed”.

Also in the UK this week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published it’s 2019/20 business plan. The document outlines key priorities for the coming year. From the outset there is a focus on technological change, both in terms of the risks it brings to consumers and the financial system, and also the opportunities for innovation. A key cross-sector priority is improving tackling money laundering through intelligence and data. “We are also strengthening our ability to use technology to target criminals. We will use more advanced data analytics and machine learning techniques against money launderers and other financial criminals”.

The FCA also notes that intelligence sharing will be key, although focuses on sharing with government and other relevant agencies. I’ll be more excited when information between private sector firms is tackled in a meaningful way.

This blog was published by Comply Advantage and can be found here: <a href="https://complyadvantage.com/blog/crypto-enforcement-firsts-for-fincen-and-state-of-new-york-the-weekly-round-up/">https://complyadvantage.com/blog/crypto-enforcement-firsts-for-fincen-and-state-of-new-york-the-weekly-round-up/</a>
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Crypto enforcement firsts for FinCEN and State of New York – The Weekly Round-Up

ComplyAdvantage believes that compliance doesn’t have to be painful. Businesses need real-time financial crime insight to put them in control.
ComplyAdvantage enable you to understand the real risk of who you're doing business with, through the world's only global, real-time risk database of people and companies. They actively identify tens of thousands of risk events from millions of structured and unstructured data points - every single day.
Their suite of configurable cloud services integrates seamlessly to help automate and reduce the frustration of complying with Sanctions, AML and CTF regulations.
ComplyAdvantage partners with over 350 customers from more than 45 countries and with a team of over 160 people across offices in New York, London, Singapore and Cluj. In the past 12 months alone they have secured a Series B investment round of $30 million, seen a 300% growth in revenue and have rapidly expanded in the US, having signed their 100th customer.
&nbsp;

ComplyAdvantage

ComplyAdvantage believes that compliance doesn’t have to be painful. Businesses need real-time financial crime insight to put them in control.
ComplyAdvantage enable you to understand the real risk of who you're doing business with, through the world's only global, real-time risk database of people and companies. They actively identify tens of thousands of risk events from millions of structured and unstructured data points - every single day.
Their suite of configurable cloud services integrates seamlessly to help automate and reduce the frustration of complying with Sanctions, AML and CTF regulations.
ComplyAdvantage partners with over 350 customers from more than 45 countries and with a team of over 160 people across offices in New York, London, Singapore and Cluj. In the past 12 months alone they have secured a Series B investment round of $30 million, seen a 300% growth in revenue and have rapidly expanded in the US, having signed their 100th customer.
&nbsp;

Founder and CEO, ComplyAdvantage

Charles Delingpole is CEO of ComplyAdvantage, the leader in AI-driven financial crime risk and detection technology powered by Complydata, the world’s hyperscale source of financial risk insights.
As CEO, Charles leads the product development and growth of the company. His passion for the issue came from his time as the MLRO of a previous startup he founded when he realized the ubiquitous inefficiency concerning money laundering processes.
Over 99% of money laundering is successful, ComplyAdvantage is working to stop it completely. Founded in 2014, ComplyAdvantage works with over 1000 enterprise clients across 75 countries. ComplyAdvantage has raised $100m from Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, OTPP and Goldman Sachs. ComplyAdvantage has global hubs in London, New York, and Singapore. Charles set up his first company, The Student Room Group, now the world’s largest student discussion forum when he was 16. After completing his MA in Politics at Trinity College Cambridge, and then an MSc in Management, Strategy, and Finance from the LSE, he became an associate at J.P. Morgan Cazenove.
ComplyAdvantage is the financial industry’s leading source of AI-driven financial crime risk data 1000+ organisations in 75 countries rely on our hyper-scale AML and risk detection technology Four global hubs located in New York, London, Singapore and Cluj-Napoca with 400+ employees Backed by Balderton Capital, Ontario Teachers, Index Ventures, and Goldman Sachs
Our Differentiation 
A unified and comprehensive data graph of individuals and business entities 
Insights you can’t get anywhere else – identifying high-risk customers more accurately (fewer false-positives) 
Ease and speed of remediating alerts with intuitive Case Management 
Seamless integration into existing workflows via RESTful API
We serve 
Traditional Financial Institutions 
Fintechs 
Payments &amp; Remittance 
Neo &amp; Digital Banks 
Crypto Exchanges &amp; e-wallets