Know Your Customer (KYC)
The Ongoing Step: Deeper Due Diligence and Monitoring
Checking an ID at the start of a transaction is only the beginning. "Know Your Customer" (KYC) is the ongoing process of understanding your client's broader risk profile. If your firm maintains an ongoing business relationship with a client, the law requires you to actively monitor that relationship to ensure their transactions make commercial sense and align with what you know about them.
What Does Ongoing KYC Involve?
Your AML/CTF Program must include clear procedures for keeping client information current and identifying suspicious changes in behaviour. This includes:
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Unmasking Beneficial Ownership: For companies and complex trusts, KYC requires you to identify the actual humans behind the corporate structure—specifically those who own 25% or more of the entity or exercise effective control over it.
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Source of Wealth & Source of Funds: For high-risk clients or unusually large transactions (such as a sudden, massive cash deposit), you must gather evidence explaining where their money actually comes from to ensure it is not the proceeds of crime.
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Transaction Monitoring: Reviewing complex or unusual transaction patterns to ensure they are consistent with the client's known business activities.
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Keeping Records Up to Date: Periodically reviewing and updating the identification documents of your existing clients, and continuously screening them against updated international sanctions and PEP lists.
How AML Partners 360 Helps
Ongoing monitoring shouldn't require your staff to constantly second-guess every transaction. We provide the advanced KYC workflows your nominated Compliance Officer needs. From beneficial ownership flowcharts to risk-escalation registers, we give you the tools to monitor complex clients confidently without micromanaging every single file.