30 October 2022 – London

Verify 365 has announced two new partnerships this week. The first one is with Birmingham-based Jacobs Law Solicitors. The second one is with Thorntons Solicitors in Shrewsbury.

The firms will integrate Verify 365 AML checks, source of funds and biometric identity verification technology, delivering KYC (Know Your Customer), KYB (Know Your Business) services, and fully HM Land Registry and Solicitors Regulation Authority compliant anti-money laundering (AML) checks.

Established in 2013, Jacobs Law Solicitors specialise in advising and supporting individuals, small companies, and multi-nationals in the UK. Based in the heart of Birmingham’s City Centre, they offer a unique and exciting new approach to legal expertise.

According to Asead Yakoob, Managing Partner at Jacobs Law:

“Our priority is to deliver the highest standards of legal advice. A forward-thinking approach in the way we conduct our business has seen us meet the needs of our clients time after time. Our diverse client base has seen each and every one of us work as part of a team to achieve the needs of our clients, a major factor in delivering results. The ever-changing face of law has meant we are always willing to explore new ideas and challenges. Our lawyers are friendly and approachable, an important trait when dealing with client matters.”

The Birmingham-based firm currently has three offices in the West Midlands. Jacob Law’s clients will now be able to use real-time AML checks and ID verification services in 39 languages and verify over 10,000 government issued ID documents via a single API integration.

The Partnership will Reduce Identity Theft and Financial Fraud

The partnership will reportedly reduce identity theft and financial fraud, and help the practice avoid hefty penalties due to potential SRA and HM Land Registry non-compliance.

“Innovative law firms like Jacobs Law that provide high-value conveyancing and other legal services to their clients require real-time AML checks, online ID verification with the latest NFC and biometrics based identity verification technology more than anyone else,” comments Verify 365 CEO, Rudi Kesic.

“This partnership aligns with our efforts in supporting innovative solicitors practices in the UK by offering reliable and secure AML checks, fraud detection and prevention, and ID verification services in an increasingly borderless and digital world.”

The second integration Verify 365 announced this week is with Thorntons Solicitors, a Shrewsbury-based law firm. Thorntons Solicitors was founded by Stephen Thornton in March 2007. Since then, the practice has grown organically and has now established itself as one of the region’s most respected law firms.

According to Debbie Feasey, the firm’s Legal Compliance Manager:

“Our aim is to offer all our clients a first-class service in a friendly and practical manner. Our team of dedicated and trusted lawyers has many years’ experience in looking after the individual needs of the people of Shrewsbury and surrounding areas. Owing to our excellent services and caring approach, we have gained respect from our clients who return to us time and again.”

Based at Rowan House South on Shrewsbury Business Park, Thorntons Solicitors are easily accessible from the nearby motorway network and have ample free parking for all their clients. They are also close to Shrewsbury town centre and public transport routes.

Thorntons Solicitors are using Verify 365’s automated AML checks, source of funds and ID verification platform with a complete portfolio of KYC verification and AML screening services for digital client onboarding.

Verify 365 AML screening solution is being used to spot high-risk profiles against criminal watch lists and politically exposed persons (PEP) lists. At the same time, the firm’s biometric and NFC-based identity verification services enable a fully SRA-compliant client onboarding process while also promoting KYC and AML compliance across all departments.

“Verify 365’s powerful Biometric ID verification technology has enabled us to achieve the highest level of compliance with AML regulations with bespoke ID verification AI models for each type of document, giving our clients a quick and seamless onboarding experience,” said Debbie Feasey, Thorntons Solicitors Compliance Manager.

“Verify 365 are the market leader in digital identity verification and their AML solution is supporting our compliance and supervision functions and helping the firm remain fully compliant with the required AML regulations, by relying on advanced AI-driven client onboarding technology.”

Rudi Kesic, CEO at Verify 365, added:

“Money laundering is a major challenge in the legal sector as it underpins most forms of organised crime in the UK, which allows criminals to develop their operations, deposit funds and hide their assets. Although there are no exact figures, there is a realistic possibility that the scale of money laundering impacting the UK annually is in the hundreds of billions of pounds.”

Money laundering is an ongoing issue for solicitors and conveyancers and has the potential to threaten the UK’s national security, national prosperity, and international reputation.

“The critical importance of the legal sector to the UK’s economy and London’s reputation as the world’s top legal hub, means that property transactions, particularly high value money laundering involving Russian, Chinese, or Arab clients, can undermine the integrity of the UK’s legal system and its international reputation,” added Kesic.

“The UK benefits from an active and dynamic market of law firms, supported by a limited number of restrictions on establishing a company in England and Wales. The ease with which a company can be established is frequently exploited by criminals who set apparently legitimate companies both within UK and offshore, but which are primarily a mechanism for laundering illicit funds.”

How can Verify 365 AML checks and fraud prevention solution help law firms?

Rudi added that all law firms should be investing digital client onboarding technology and electronic AML checks, such as Verify 365, which enables solicitors to undertake instant AML and identity checks and obtain digital bank statements to identify money launderers, therefore disrupt further criminal activity, as well as making the UK’s legal sector a difficult environment for those who seek to use it to launder criminal finances.

By working in partnership with law enforcement and regulation agencies, Verify 365 are helping to support law firms by providing the best digital onboarding technology for AML checks to help solicitors and conveyancers to spot the signs of money laundering and identify and stop fraud.

“If you work in legal services and suspect that your law firm is under threat from money laundering or terrorist financing, you should call Verify 365 to assist your practice with implementing a digital client onboarding system,” added Kesic.

Firms are well-advised to review their AML policies, application at case level, and their firm-wide risk assessments and take immediate action to ensure they are sufficiently robust or update them to achieve and maintain a compliant status.

What makes Verify 365 KYC and AML checks unique?

What makes Verify 365 KYC and AML checks unique is that users can start their AML and digital identity verification journey anywhere, anytime, through a simple and user-friendly ID verification app that meets all the regulatory requirements from the HM Land Registry, Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

If your law firm is looking for a digital client onboarding solution and the best ID verification software specifically developed for SRA regulated solicitors firms in England and Wales, please visit www.verify365.app.

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