Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) represents an advanced level of scrutiny, serving as a crucial component beyond basic KYC checks.
According to AIPrise, this process meticulously examines high-risk customers or significant transactions, delving into the source of wealth, business activities, and connections to high-risk jurisdictions.
Unlike standard Customer Due Diligence (CDD), which only captures basic information, EDD is essential for thwarting illegal activities. It plays a pivotal role in helping businesses meet regulatory demands, safeguard their reputation, and reduce financial risks.
To effectively implement EDD, businesses must engage in comprehensive procedures to identify and evaluate high-risk customers and transactions. This involves collecting detailed customer information such as identity, address, occupation, and business activities. Companies like AiPrise enhance this process by integrating over 100 data sources to validate these details efficiently.
Part of EDD involves pinpointing who ultimately benefits from a customer’s business activities and ensuring these beneficiaries are legitimate. Additionally, verifying the origins of funds used in transactions is crucial, requiring businesses to assess the credibility of related documentation and investigate any suspicious circumstances.
Thorough background checks are imperative in EDD, encompassing criminal records, credit history, and media reports to verify a customer’s identity. It’s also vital to continuously monitor the customer’s activities to promptly detect any suspicious behavior or changes in their risk profile.
EDD procedures help identify high-risk individuals, such as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and businesses from jurisdictions with lax anti-money laundering (AML) controls. This category also includes non-profit organizations and shell companies that might be used to facilitate illicit activities.
Maintaining detailed records of EDD practices, ensuring data accuracy, and meeting regulatory reporting requirements are fundamental to compliance. Businesses must be ready to provide EDD documentation during regulatory inspections and adapt to evolving legal frameworks.
Leveraging technology like AI and machine learning can significantly streamline the EDD process. A risk-based approach enables businesses to tailor their EDD measures based on the specific risks associated with a customer or transaction, applying more stringent controls when necessary.
The approach to EDD can vary significantly by country, influenced by local regulations and international standards. In Europe, the AMLD5 framework dictates strict EDD measures for high-risk scenarios, while in the USA, FinCEN sets out guidelines under the Bank Secrecy Act. Despite these differences, the core principles of verifying identities and understanding business relationships remain constant globally.
