Gartmore selects Datanomic Sanctions/PEP Screening solution for EU3MLD compliance

USA (SANEPR.com) June 23, 2008 -- See: http://www.datanomic.com/news/122

Data quality specialists Datanomic Ltd, today announced that international asset management firm, Gartmore, has adopted its dn:Director Sanctions / PEP Screening Solution to deliver a more automated and consistent foundation for mitigating risk as part of its compliance with the EU 3rd Money Laundering Directive. Gartmore is using Datanomic’s solution to support its proactive Sanctions List monitoring to screen up to 400,000 client records across the business.

The Datanomic solution replaces a bespoke in-house system and is used to screen potential matches in its customer base from selected sanctions lists, such as the Bank of England and OFAC in line with its risk-based approach.

“We needed a comprehensive system that was future proofed, well supported and easy to use,” said Steve Elkins, Chief Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer. “We needed a sophisticated filtering system that delivered clear, quick results, rather than having to spend hours pouring over reports. We did a market evaluation, including a three month focus group and dummy running of data. Datanomic’s dn:Director was the clear choice. The output we get from dn:Director is extremely simple and clear. It’s very sophisticated, distinctly ahead in terms of functionality and most of all it’s easy to use. We are now also actively considering adding Datanomic’s additional PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) service.”

Regulatory initiatives, such as Basel II, MiFID and the 3rd EU Money Laundering Directive, have placed stringent information management requirements on Financial Services organisations. Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) face increasing Know Your Customer challenges. The scale, complexity and cost of screening customers against published sanctions lists (‘Watch Lists’) and named PEP lists is becoming a major administrative burden for compliance departments. The legal requirement to continually and accurately screen their customer base presents organisations with new operational challenges. Traditional matching methods require a smarter, more sophisticated approach.

Datanomic’s Sanctions/PEP solution enables users to define how closely any two records match. Standard comparisons are pre-configured but can be edited, removed or new ones added in a risk-based approach. When the defined thresholds are met, the decision of Match, No Match or Review can be automated. Most importantly, dn:Director’s match rules mean manual decisions made on reviewed records will automatically be remembered next time the data is processed, unless either record has changed.

“The majority of our business comes from intermediaries, such as the large banks or long term savings specialists,” added Elkins. “Our customers have already been through substantive due diligence as they’ve come to us through a regulated firm so our risk profile is different to a financial institution with people walking in off the street to deposit cash. We screen our entire client base once every month using dn:Director in line with our risk-based approach. Our previous system used to present a lot of ‘false positives’. dn:Director enables us to filter out matches we don’t want and applies fuzzy logic where necessary, which means we can ask it to think outside the box.”

Gartmore initially deployed Datanomic’s dn:Director in a pilot last year and is now live and fully deployed. Because the solution is so easy to use, it resides in the company’s Shareholder Services Department, rather than the Compliance Department, which was another important consideration for Elkins and his team.

“Previously, all our sanctions matching with the old system had to be done by the Compliance Department,” added Elkins. “Financial services firms really want to focus on output rather than making an industry out of developing the system. The system and resulting output needs to be easy to use and understandable to the business as part of the ‘business as usual’, and incorporate the firm’s view of risk, as well as the company’s business model. Datanomic empowers the business to do this, rather than making it yet another task for the Compliance Department.”

Compromised data exposes organisations to both financial and reputational risk. dn:Director has templates for matching against a number of different lists, including World-Check and has worked with leading financial institutions to deliver a highly intelligent data matching solution that is designed for ease of use by non-technical users.
In addition to significantly reducing complexity and administrative overhead, Datanomic’s Sanctions / PEP Screening Solution delivers industry best practice, providing a base from which management can develop tailored policies and procedures appropriate to their business. By reducing the amount of manual matching required, Datanomic’s solution frees up resources to focus manual effort on more complex tasks. Moreover, improving the effectiveness of enterprise data applications further enhances corporate performance and competitive advantage.

Datanomic’s Sanctions / PEP Screening Solution delivers a rapid return on investment and fast implementation. The solution can be purchased as a technology package that is owned in year one, rather than as a service commanding an annual fee.

About Gartmore

Gartmore is a multi-product asset management firm that provides investment management products and services to retail and institutional investors in the UK, Continental Europe, the US, Japan and Chile. As at 31 March 2008, Gartmore managed over £24bn in assets under management. Headquartered in London, Gartmore also has offices in Boston, Frankfurt, Madrid and Tokyo. The company is owned by Hellman & Friedman LLC, and Gartmore's Senior Fund Managers and Executives.

About Datanomic

Datanomic’s holistic approach to compliance and data management enables its growing list of European and North American blue chip clients to rapidly achieve a Return on Investment by exposing and correcting deficiencies in information the business relies upon. Our clients come from a wide spectrum of industries including financial services, telecommunications, government, professional services and engineering.

See: http://www.datanomic.com

For further information, please contact:

Sophie Geering
Datanomic Limited
Tel: +44 (0)1223 228412
Email: sophie.geering@datanomic.com

Vanessa Land
Devonshire Marketing
Tel: + 44 (0)870 242 7469
Email: vanessa@devonshiremarketing.com