Through the keyhole: Inside Michael Graham's AML evolution
Published
What does working with Thirdfort give Michael Graham?
An anti-money laundering (AML) compliance system that integrates with Reapit, where client data lives and sales negotiators work—making it easy for the team to maintain AML compliance.
Clear, detailed reports that the compliance function can review efficiently, saving 10-15 minutes per client when reviewing AML screening matches.
Peace of mind that the reports ensure compliance while providing a comprehensive picture of each client.
When you're a compliance officer in a business like this, you feel very much that you are on your own. For me, it's invaluable to have a relationship with organisations like Thirdfort because you become part of our team. It's a service that I know that I can rely on and it just gives me confidence that we are doing the right thing and we're remaining compliant."
Claire Kendall, Compliance Officer
About Michael Graham
We spoke to Claire Kendall, a Compliance Officer at Michael Graham, a specialist town and country estate agent. They have 15 offices across eight counties as well as central London. For over 50 years they have put client care at the heart of helping their clients to buy, sell and rent their dream homes.
For Michael Graham, Thirdfort is a vital part in reducing the time AML processes take.
How the integration with Reapit works for Michael Graham
Before using Thirdfort Michael Graham were using another provider that was not integrated into Reapit. This meant that AML reports were not in the same place as the rest of their client data. This caused problems as it meant that sales negotiators did not have visibility of their clients AML checks and this meant that flags may get missed. This was concerning for the Compliance Officer, Claire, and time consuming as she would often need to chase the teams in branch to make sure that they were looking at the other system.
By using the Thirdfort app in Reapit, the results of all reports are stored within Reapit. This means that sales negotiators can see within their client record whether AML checks have been done as well as the result of any checks without needing to leave their client management system. It also means that, should they be audited, all their AML checks, documentation and rationale around decisions on risk are stored in the same place.
We chose Thirdfort because of the integration with Reapit, which is our client management system. That makes it much easier for the staff in the branches because they don't need to leave Reapit and look at another piece of software to see if the report has come back and what the result was. It's made the process more streamlined for the staff in the offices and it has saved me so much time because I don’t need to chase the team to remind them to look at the report.”
Claire Kendall, Compliance Officer
Saving 10- 15 minutes reviewing AML screening results
While technology should streamline client screening, some services can actually create extra work for compliance teams. Michael Graham's previous supplier provided screening matches without sufficient detail to determine if matches were genuine. Their Compliance Officer had to conduct extensive open source research to rule out false positives. Since this research wasn't linked to the original report, it created additional manual work to document their decision-making process.
One of the issues we had was with false positives. Previously we were not getting data to help us with reviewing potential matches. I was having to do my own open source research and then pull together a report to show why I felt it was ok to proceed. Thirdfort reports come with sources linked, so I can take a quick look and that helps me make a decision which I can then make a note of in Reapit. It’s saved me lots of time.”
Claire Kendall, Compliance Officer
Since implementing Thirdfort into their process Claire is able to save time when reviewing the report and ensure compliance by having the rationale for moving forward saved in the same place.
An extension of Michael Graham’s compliance function
Being a Compliance Officer can be isolating at times. While your goal is to help team members work compliantly, it's easy to feel that compliance processes are creating bottlenecks in the business.
For Michael Graham, Thirdfort has become an extension of their compliance function—not only providing confidence in their compliance processes but also offering continuous support. With Thirdfort's UK-based support team readily available, Claire and her team get quick answers to their questions. This allows them to focus on delivering excellent service to their administrators, sales negotiators, and longstanding clients.
And what would Claire advise a fellow Compliance Officer?
The Thirdfort integration with Reapit is a massive time saver and has made AML so much easier. Coupled with the detailed information we get and the amazing customer service, my confidence in what we’re doing has really grown.”
Claire Kendall, Compliance Officer
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