6February 2022CO VER S T OR YCANCHEKCANCHEKBritish investigative journalist John Sweeney famously said: "It's bad form to mention money-laundering. Instead, you talk about asset-management structures and tax beneficial schemes." In contrast, founder-owners of CANCHEK Corporation are keen to talk plainly about money-laundering ­ anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorist-financing (AML/ATF) ­ and how CANCHEK helps those subject to AML/ATF requirements stay on top of new technologies, new illicit ways to transfer funds, new players, and a mind-numbing number of transactions.Unlike most of us, money-laundering didn't get `locked down' by COVID-19; it continued to spread like the virus. Said Laurie Clark, Co-founder of CANCHEK: "Anyone can do well in good times; we do even better in bad ones. We didn't just survive the past two years;we built and expanded without government support." It's clear why she twice has been named one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, and her most recent venture, Onyen Corporation, won two Canadian RegTech Association and Ernst & Young awards.The challenges: CANCHEK customers struggled during the pandemic with not only transitioning to more online service delivery models, but also dealing with substantial changes to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and regulations. In force from June 1, 2021, expanded AML requirements were accompanied by new Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) reporting obligations, to be implemented in stages through 2024. Public shaming and penalties of $500,000 per violation for firms not meeting AML/ATF regulations tend to get executives' attention­ CANCHEK helps avoid them.Before the pandemic, CANCHEK was enabling over 100 Canadian firms to comply with AML/ATF obligations, and credibly demonstrate compliance. To deter and detect money-laundering, client identity is critical, and COVID-19 made it tougher for financial firms to legally identify clients, as few­by mandate or choice ­ came into the office. CANCHEK leapt to the task.CANCHEK customers want as near-to-real-time updates from the regulatory lists of international Politically Exposed Persons, Heads of International Organizations (PEPs and HIOs), and sanctions. And they
< Page 5 | Page 7 >