World-Check Screening: What Is It And What Is It Used For
What is World-Check Screening? In simple terms, it is a database of politically-exposed persons and heightened risk individuals and organizations around the world to help identify and manage financial, regulatory, and reputational risks.
The creation of such a database was a necessary measure of legislation. It was aimed at reducing the level of financial crime. Banks and various financial institutions used World-Check analytics as a comprehensive solution for assessing, managing and eliminating risks. However, as legislation tends to become more complex, the demand for such information has grown beyond the financial sector and has embraced organizations from all other areas.
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If you have suspicions that you’re on the list and want to find out how to unsubscribe from World-Check, you will find this article extremely useful. Moreover, don’t forget that if you find anything unclear or too complicated, don’t hesitate to contact us for professional assistance! Our team of top-notch specialists can help you deal with World-Check screening (World-Check KYC) and remove you from a World-Check list.
How does the World-Check database work?
If you want to understand world check compliance better, you need to know that the operation of the World-Check database is quite simple, or at least following it is not so difficult. This system “releases” data and news related to potential financial risks from sources that it considers reliable.
After that, it classifies these individuals by profile based on the corresponding crime category and places these profiles on the notorious lists.
In this mechanism, which at first glance may seem perfect, there is still the main downside: quite often, sources considered authoritative are actually “garbage,”; as they mean nothing.
World-Check categories
There are more than twenty World-Check categories. If you want to know more about the World-Check list or World-Check compliance, let’s take a look at the following categories and what they include.
- Banks (shell bank, central banks of countries at high or potentially high risk, state banks, unauthorized banks, etc.).
- Blacklists (World Bank, airlines blacklisted in the European Union).
- Countries reported by the World Bank, IMF, FATF, UN, and EU (Embargo) are considered at high risk.
- Companies that are presented on regulatory sites or official sanctions such as OFAC, ONU, SEC, UK FSA, US FRB, etc.
- Crime (financial, drug trafficking, organized, war, terrorism, embargo and ship embargo, etc.).
- Diplomats (ambassadors, ministers, attached, consols, honorary consulates, lobbyists).
- Individuals
NB This category is one of the most controversial since it often contains completely innocent people who do not deserve this kind of media pillory. Did this happen to you? In this case, our team of top-notch professionals may be able to help you out.
Individuals category includes any person accused, investigated, arrested, detained, interrogated, or brought to trial for crimes related to the World-Check but not yet convicted. In this World-Check list, you may also find a Politically Exposed Person and a close relative of a Politically Exposed Person.
About World-Check lists
Each category has its World-Check list that contains the names of different kinds of organizations and a list of names and acronyms of individuals. Of particular relevance are the global checklists on struggling with white-washing and terrorism financing.
More about World-Check screening
Why can an individual or legal entity change the category and move from one list to another?
We can give you a particular example. Suppose an individual, political or diplomatic individual was accused of a crime related to World-Check but has not yet been convicted. They will then be listed as “Individual, Political or Diplomatic Individual category” (as the case may be) until the possible conviction.
After conviction, the same person will undergo a category change and be classified according to the corresponding crime category. And if the sentence is canceled on appeal, the same person will return to the first category.
We want to draw your attention to the fact that it is enough to charge the crime with those controlling bodies that were mentioned earlier for the initial filing.
What is World-Check Leak?
You probably heard about World-Check Leak; everyone has talked about it every time database listings appeared online. And so they are available for download to anyone, including hackers who have a decent internet connection. One of the most widespread cases happened in 2016 when a massive terror database of 2 million people has been leaked online.
We want to point out that since the Thomson Reuters financial and risk division (the World-Check owner) was acquired by the Blackstone Group and changed its name to Refinitiv, there have been no more cases of data leakage and theft.
How banks and companies use World-Check One
World-Check One (World-Check screening) is a tool used by international companies, banks, financial institutions, and credit institutions to effectively select employees and transactions, prevent potential risks and efficient client screening.
How does it work?
If a World-Check client reports his / her suspicion to any bank, further checks will be required, and the application may be easily and quickly rejected.
World-Check One tool can help to deal with:
Money Laundering. Can you imagine that at least 50% of global companies are experiencing at least one financial crime each year? Money laundering is inextricably linked with financial crimes because, to spend the stolen money, they must be washed and cleaned up. When global government agencies face this kind of fraud, they certainly cannot wait on the sidelines. And here we need World-Check One, a professional anti-money laundering solution launched by Thomson Reuters in 2014.
The operation is as simple as that: the database collects all data from sources and, with the help of World-Check One, simplifies the search for people, companies, and states registered, accused, or convicted of money laundering.
Terrorism. It is an efficient World-Check screening tool and can find all the traces of terrorist financing. The database collects all the data from official sources and makes it available to clients who need it.
About World-Check KYC
Sometimes the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) principle goes too far, but not all is lost. The thing is, financial institutions do not want to mess with scammers, terrorists, and anyone and anything suspicious. The larger the organization, the more thoroughly it checks customers and counterparties — rating and reputation are at stake. Unfortunately, the results of such inspections are not always fair.
KYC or “Know Your Client” is a method of verifying the identity of a client. Another purpose of a KYC audit is to check the reliability of the client or counterparty. That’s one reason why large financial institutions are afraid to work with anonymous accounts; they cannot be reviewed for compliance with the “anti-money laundering” legislation. If financial institutions neglect KYC procedures, they risk losing their rating.
World-Check is used by different financial companies to meet due diligence and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) requirements. For example, Lloyd’s of London has used World-Check for its due diligence and KYC compliance needs since 2008. Effective World-Check KYC screening goes beyond using Politically Exposed Persons and sanction lists.
Regulators consider the state of the company’s KYC standards and how they are consistently applied in business as the first step to victory in the fight against money laundering and the financing of crime and terrorism. So now, we can see that the “World-Check KYC” connection is essential.
Unsubscribe from World-Check: is it possible?
Yes, you can unsubscribe from World-Check. Besides, it can be done legally, without the help of a hacker who can penetrate the database. Do not forget that you can always seek advice from Reputation America; our highly qualified specialists are in a position to deal with your problem related to World-Check KYC.
Keep in mind that it is always better to be safer than sorry. Did any compromising sources appear online because of your negligence? Do your best to remove these potentially risky online-links yourself. In some cases, it can be possible.
Do not trust non-professionals. The thing is, they can only aggravate the whole situation. But don’t feel hopeless about the negative World-Check — chin up, not all is lost! Better contact the qualified professionals from “Reputation America”! We are here to find the best possible solution regarding your World-Check KYC problem.
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