We are pleased to announce our partnership with Armalytix, the open banking platform which streamlines the collection of data for the professional and financial service industries.

Armalytix’s Source of Funds technology will now be available to OneSearch clients, helping to support them by providing best in class solutions that enhance their business. Through the partnership with Armalytix, OneSearch clients can have access to Armalytix’s Source of Funds analysis, questionnaires and reports which provide a simple, visual way for lawyers to gather the correct source of funds information from their clients to manage compliance and money laundering risks.  

The relationship comes at an important time with both the SRA & CLC stating at the recent Legal Eye Risk & Compliance conference in Birmingham that the regulatory focus on AML is not going away anytime soon. The partnership will support conveyancers moving to electronic digital methods, rather than using paper and manual processes, helping to mitigate the reputational and financial risk that companies are currently placing themselves under, as shown by the SRA’s recent fine of a firm for wrongly saying it had a proper AML risk assessment.

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Robin Wells, Head of Sales Operations, OneSearch, comments:

“Working with Armalytix represents another positive step in with which OneSearch Is assisting conveyancers with due diligence in a more dynamic and efficient way. The decision for us to partner with Armalytix was an easy one, we feel it’s the most comprehensive and most effective solution in the market”

Tom Lyes, Head of Legal and Property at Armalytix, stated:

“Our vision to create a form free future fits in perfectly with OneSearch’s mission to offer a complete solution to the property transaction.  Our Source of Funds tool ensures that clients can meet AML and fraud checks for compliance and regulatory purposes, and digitises the process, allowing for a better client experience.  We’re excited to be supporting OneSearch as one of the most trusted brands in the conveyancing world.”

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To launch the new partnership, OneSearch and Armalytix are delighted to invite you to an upcoming webinar.

‘Tackling Source of Funds with Armalytix & OneSearch’ will take place on the 27th July. You can sign up for this webinar for free by clicking here, or find out more information here.

If you can’t make this date, but would like a recording afterwards, email us here.

To find out more about Armalytix via OneSearch, download their product card, sample report, alternatively please call the OneSearch Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.

AML risks a top priority for the SRA into 2022 and conveyancers need to remain vigilant

We’ve seen caseload volumes return to more normal levels since the SDLT holiday ended. In a way, the industry is returning to some kind of normalcy. So, it’s a good time to ask:

Are AML criminals returning to “normal” as well?

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted in its 2020/21 report published in September:

“For some, the pandemic meant diverting resources away from AML supervisory activity, which inevitably affected the number of assessments they conducted.”

Now is a good time to refocus on AML and check your policies, procedures and training schedule is in order.

 

Conveyancers need to stay one step ahead of AML criminals

The UK is seen as a high-risk jurisdiction for money laundering. Conveyancing has been designated high risk because of the amounts of money that are moved.

To help tackle complacency, HMRC published a name-and-shame list of businesses that have not complied with the regulations, which includes a number of law firms and estate agencies.

The SRA is also adopting a tough stance with individuals banned from holding compliance roles, and firms issued with heavy fines.

In the 2020/21 AML Annual Report, the SRA stated the main cause of breaches were:

• Inadequate policies, controls and procedures
• Lack of supervision or training
• Staff not following set procedures

In addition, 273 reports of potential AML breaches were made, which most commonly involved no AML risk assessment.

Or failure to carry out:

• Source of funds check
• Customer due diligence
• Identity checks

Although complying with AML regulations can appear daunting, there are solutions available to help conveyancers of every size and budget.

 

The SRA highlighted major red flags all conveyancers should be monitoring

The SRA’s report states:

“The two areas where we continue to see the most risks relating to money laundering are conveyancing, including vendor fraud (where fraudsters try and sell a property without the consent or knowledge of the owner) and dubious investment schemes.”

The subsequent press release highlighted house sale fraud as one avenue criminals continue to pursue.

The SRA stresses the importance of conveyancer vigilance and lists the following red flags:

• the property price is significantly over or under the market value
• the seller or buyer is reluctant or unable to provide documents
• ID documents do not look genuine
• there is pressure to complete the transaction very quickly
• minimal work is instructed, for example, no searches are requested
• there are complex or unusual circumstances around the transaction
• it is a cash purchase of a property
• funds are coming from or going to unconnected third parties

Conducting these checks manually is time-consuming and prone to error. Ensuring the data you work from are up to date is a huge challenge for a busy conveyancer.

 

Electronic verification is helping conveyancers to stay compliant – efficiently

The SRA says, “electronic verification tools can help firms carry out these tasks, but it is important that firms use them appropriately.”

The Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG) agrees, acknowledging “In an increasingly digital age, it is clear that non-face-to-face customer onboarding can no longer be viewed as always high risk (although it remains a key risk factor to be assessed in the context of the wider relationship) – a more nuanced approach should therefore be adopted to these types of relationships.”

The LSAG goes on to say the use of electronic identification and verification (EID&V) tools may be helpful in that they:

• can improve efficiency in customer identification and verification at on-boarding
• allow the undertaking of checks that may be resource-intensive to be done more efficiently
• can be applied consistently from client to client
• can support ongoing due diligence and scrutiny of transactions

 

OneSearch’s AML offerings can help keep you compliant

We offer a number of Customer Due Diligence (CDD) checks to support your Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures.

GBG AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Check

This comprehensive report includes:

• UK Deceased Persons Database
• UK NCOA (Alert Flag) Database check
• International Sanctions (Enhanced) check
• International PEP (Enhanced)

GBG AML with Document Check

This is a powerful combination of the GBG AML Check with a document check to ensure all your bases are covered when verifying the identity of your clients.

SmartSearch AML (Landmark)

• This report on individuals returns seven proofs of identity from six independent sources, including Experian
• Equifax
• Dow Jones
• Companies House

In addition, the Dual CRA Bureau connectivity enables the highest ‘match & pass’ rate in the market.

You can simply add what you need to your order on a case-by-case basis.

Or, to ensure consistency across all cases and branches, set up your existing search bundles with the addition of an AML check.

1 in 4 of the top 500 law firms use the service we recommend and have made available on our ordering platform. To find out more about adding Anti-Money Laundering products to your bundles, call our Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.

After the success of our first CLS Property Insight partnered webinar, ‘Defective Lease Issues in Conveyancing’, we are pleased to share details on the next in the series, which will be taking place on Wednesday 3rd November at 11AM.

Your Guide to Planning and Building Regulations and Associated Indemnities

OneSearch Direct and CLS Property Insight are pleased to provide this informative discussion on Planning and Building Regulations, its effect on the residential conveyancing process and the range of legal indemnity policies available to help conveyancers and their clients progress property transactions.

Including:

• Overview of the key issues and the impact on homeowners.
• Case studies featuring issues that resulted in enforcement action.
• Overview of CLS’ insurance solution to help you navigate the potential issues which may arise.

Sign up for this webinar here.

If you can’t make this date, but would like a recording afterwards, please click here.

To find out more about CLS PI products via OneSearch, please call the Service Introduction Team on 01782 433 270 or email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk.

As part of the Coal Authority’s pricing review, the prices for their mining reports will be increasing.

Please be advised of the new prices, effective from 1st November 2021:

Residential
Product	New Cost
Coal Report – Residential (Coal Authority)	£51.09
Coal Authority Claims Report (50m Buffer)	£25.14
Coal Authority Subsidence Claims History	£210.35
Interpretive Coal Report	£154.81
Residential Enviro All In One (On Coal Field)	£135.58
Residential Enviro All In One (Off Coal Field)	£92.90
Ground Stability Report – Residential	£106.44
Commercial
Product	New Cost
Coal Report – Commercial (Coal Authority)	£117.43
Commercial Enviro All In One (On Coal Field)	£390.98
Commercial Enviro All In One (Off Coal Field)	£244.01
Ground Stability Report – Commercial	£181.39

 

If your bundles include any Coal Authority products, your account manager will be in touch. If you have any questions or comments, please email intro@onesearchdirect.co.uk or get in touch with us on 0800 052 0117 and we will be more than happy to assist you.

Please be advised that Groundsure have made enhancements to the below products, as outlined in this one page infographic (click here to view).

The associated price increases will be effective from 1st July 2021:

 

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Your account manager will be in touch to discuss how this may affect your bundles, but if you have any immediate questions please get in touch with our Customer Services team on 0800 052 0117 and we will be more than happy to assist you.

Click here to view the Groundsure Infographic