Law firms are presented with a range of complex challenges on a daily basis, ranging from SRA compliance to confidently verifying documents. However, a challenge that may not always be at the forefront but is certainly always there is the constant challenge of fraud prevention.
If you’re a solicitor or conveyancer, you might not actively consider fraud prevention while onboarding your clients, but as you know, it is your legal obligation to prevent any form of fraud and financial crime while dealing with any matter. This translates into protecting your firm from potential threats, including fines and sanctions from authority bodies such as the SRA, which could have a significant effect on your firm’s reputation.
Discover in this article why it’s crucial to have fraud prevention processes in place and what the impact could be on you and your firm if these processes aren’t correctly followed.
Why You Must Have Effective Fraud Prevention Protocols In Place
While it is your legal obligation to implement effective fraud prevention processes in your firm, you also need to consider the risks associated with inadequate protocols. The biggest risk is inadvertently getting involved in a financial crime network by not completing comprehensive checks or due diligence on your clients meaning businesses could pull you into a criminal network, leading to prosecutions, fines and prison.
In addition to this, having effective fraud prevention protocols in place can help you build trust with your clients and also enhance their overall experience. If your clients are seeing things within your law firm that are concerning, they may look elsewhere for the help they need which could have a detrimental effect on your firm’s reputation.
Another significant risk is failing to meet compliance regulations set by the likes of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The regulations are there to ensure your firm is completing checks legally and effectively but many firms have crossed the line between compliance and non-compliance. The SRA have recently demonstrated how severely they take non-compliance by harshly punishing firms up and down the country. Two law firms recently felt the pinch, with the SRA handing out fines exceeding £34,000 while a firm based in Coventry was hit with a costly £46,000 for failings related to anti-money laundering. Persistent failings can lead to closures, loss of legal career and even a prison sentence in the most severe of cases.
Fraud prevention cannot be taken for granted, given the consequences that follow should your processes not be up to standard. You must take a risk-based approach and prevent fraud to not only tackle financial crime and shut down criminal networks but also protect your firm from threats that money laundering and fraud present.
How Can Verify 365 Help Your Firm Prevent Fraud?
Verify 365 is the ultimate AML, KYC and compliance solution for law firms of all sizes. Our comprehensive client onboarding platform enables firms to onboard clients efficiently and effectively while also ensuring regulatory compliance within the frameworks of numerous bodies. Verify 365 ensures you can enhance your onboarding processes, enhance due diligence protocols and take a risk-based approach to tackle common challenges and prevent financial fraud. Here is a detailed breakdown of how Verify 365 can help you tackle fraud challenges effectively and confidently:
Advanced Biometric Identity Checks—You can verify your client’s identity within minutes using our innovative ID verification technology, DynamicID. This technology recognises 10,000 legal ID documents from over 190 countries and effectively combines facial recognition and liveness scanning. Biometric checks are hugely beneficial in preventing fraud as you can authenticate and validate your client identification documents and decipher if they are who they say they are.
Global Address Verifications – Quickly verify address documentation from over 40 countries. Your client must submit proof of address documents so you can confirm they reside at the address they claim to live at. Likewise, for businesses, submitting address documents confirms if the business has a physical location, which is an important component of the ‘Know Your Business’ (KYB) process. Verify 365 recognises a range of address document types from across the globe, ensuring you can also verify details of international clients.
Local Address Verifications – Completing global address verifications means you can also verify the address details of individuals and businesses in the UK. Your clients will need to submit documents containing address information, such as utility bills, bank statements, HMRC letters, and electoral rolls. Address checks are a crucial element of the client onboarding process and equally as important when preventing fraud. Without address verifications, you could be working with someone who is involved in illicit activity.
Source of Funds Analysis – Determining an individual’s or business’s financial numbers is a key component of preventing fraud. With Verify 365, you can connect with over 4,000 banks worldwide to analyse financial data and determine the true source of funds and wealth. Our combination of open banking, advanced AI analytics and a detailed source of funds questionnaire enables you to obtain and analyse financial data. Analysing financial data means you can spot anomalies and immediately note and report any suspicious activity to the necessary bodies. This not only prevents financial fraud and other crimes but also ensures you are protecting your own business from potential threats.
Comprehensive KYB Checks – Through our platform, you can analyse and validate all company information, including physical location, ownership structure, financial position, and the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO). Confirming this information enables you to ensure the business you are working with is legitimate and means you are taking steps to prevent fraud and protect your own business.
Tackle Fraud and Financial Crime Confidently
Our comprehensive AML, KYC, and client onboarding platform ensures you caned approach to onboarding and verifying your clients. Crafted by legal experts for the legal sector, Verify 365 is designed to meet the requirements of all law firms, transforming the onboarding process and mitigating risk for firms across the country.
If you’d like to find out more about how Verify 365 can support your firm with compliance and help mitigate risk, download a brochure today!
