OCEANS: Optimization Consulting Enhancement Alert Notification System

(It’s a mouthful, but it works.)

When it comes to anti-money laundering, not all alerts generated by an AML monitoring system are created equal.

Some types of alerts are high-value targets that merit a Bank Secrecy Act department’s full resources. Other types of alerts are low-value targets that drain precious BSA department resources.

The challenge is knowing which types of alerts are which.

AdvisX’s Optimization Consulting Enhancement Alert Notification Solutions (OCEANS) combines real-world BSA expertise with detailed statistical analyses to identify where a financial institution should focus its finite personnel resources.

OCEANS is all about improving system efficiency and effectiveness, a mandate under FinCEN’s guidelines. We implement this in the following two phases:

Phase I: Situational and Risk Appetite Analysis

AdvisX assesses whether the current processes, templates, prescribed thresholds, and/or corresponding profile adjustments are in line with the financial institution’s BSA/AML risk appetite.

AdvisX typically accomplishes this through reviewing three months of the AML system output and the output from the corresponding case management system. We then conduct an independent review of the system parameters. During this phase, AdvisX further evaluates which thresholds may yield opportunities for system enhancement and alert reduction.

Phase II: Optimization

The optimization phase relies on data elements generally “outside” of the AML system, considering such aspects as length of business relationship, size of the account, number of accounts, number of employees, expected activity, and NAICS codes. We compare historical ratios of alerts-to-SAR filing for each key data point.

These data elements are then mined within AdvisX’s OCEANS system to augment the AML system.

Typically, this phase of the process involves one to two days of onsite consulting efforts to identify potential systems and/or data elements that may be used.

This phase is aimed at lowering the number of closed investigations or “false positives.” This phase also addresses recommended randomized back-testing ratios for categories of alerts, a useful tool for examining the ongoing appropriateness of established parameter settings.

Let AdvisX’s OCEANS solution help calm the wave of AML alerts facing your BSA department.

Contact us for a no-obligation proposal by emailing us at info@advisx.com or by calling 1-888-980-1949.