In today’s regulatory climate, managing sanctions exposure is a crucial part of your AML compliance strategy. Under Canada’s AML regime, businesses must screen customers, beneficial owners, transactions, and jurisdictions against national and international sanctions lists. Platino Consulting offers comprehensive sanctions-screening services that help your organization detect, mitigate, and document risk, ensuring you meet your compliance obligations and avoid serious regulatory penalties.

Why Sanctions Screening Is Essential

• Regulatory Obligation & Risk: Canadian reporting entities are required to assess not only money-laundering and terrorist financing risk, but also sanctions evasion risk. FINTRAC’s compliance guidance mandates that your risk assessment considers geographic risk, client and business-relationship structures, and sanctions exposure.

• Complex Ownership Structures: Sanctioned parties often use shell companies or hidden beneficial-ownership chains. Without robust screening, you may unknowingly onboard a risky entity.

• Operational Vulnerability: Transactions or relationships with sanctioned persons, or from high-risk jurisdictions, can trigger compliance escalations, blocking, and potentially regulatory enforcement if not managed correctly.

• Audit Trail Requirements: Regulators expect documented screening decisions, escalation logic, and policies. Missed or poorly documented sanctions hits can lead to examination findings or reputational damage.

What Our Sanctions Screening Service Includes

1. Initial Risk Assessment & Policy Design:
   We build or enhance your AML policies to include sanctions risk, identifying high-risk client profiles, geographic exposure, and transactional red flags. Your program will reflect best practices and regulatory standards.

2. Watchlist Screening & Integration:

   • Screening against up-to-date global and Canadian sanctions lists (UN, OFAC, Canadian lists, etc.).

   • Beneficial-ownership screening to uncover hidden exposure.

   • Real-time transaction screening, flagging, and escalation workflows.

3. Escalation & Decision Workflow:
   We design escalation protocols (when a screening hit occurs), including compliance-decision trees, investigator review, and documented approval steps, all with audit-ready logs.

4. Automation & Workflow Integration:
   We implement or integrate sanctions-screening tools (or partner with your vendor) so that screening is embedded into your onboarding, KYC, and transaction-monitoring processes, reducing manual risk.

5. Ongoing Monitoring:
   Sanctions risk evolves. We help you set up ongoing screening processes: rescreening clients, beneficial owners, and relationships at regular intervals or when risk thresholds change.

6. Training & Guidance:
   We provide training for your compliance, risk and operations teams on how to interpret screening hits, investigate potential matches, and document decisions in a regulator-friendly way.

7. Independent Review & Audit-Readiness:
   We conduct periodic audits (or mock regulatory exams) to validate that your screening program is working, and to fine-tune your policies and procedures. We help you build a defensible trail in case of FINTRAC or other regulatory scrutiny.

Why Partner with Platino Consulting

• Regulatory-Grade Expertise: Our consultants have deep experience in Canadian AML law (including FINTRAC sanctions and risk guidance) and global sanctions frameworks.

• Tailored Approach: We don’t offer “off-the-shelf.” We adapt screening programs to the complexity of your business, whether you're a fintech, crypto platform, MSB, bank, or real-estate firm.

• Proven Technology Integration: We work with modern AML screening technology and can plug our expertise into your systems, or advise on the best software for your risk profile.

• Audit Trail Assurance: Every match, decision, and procedure is documented so you're ready for examination.

• Scalable & Flexible: From start-ups to large enterprises, we scale with you, including fractional compliance services if needed.

How to Get Started

1. Book a Compliance Assessment: We start with a risk and process review to understand your current screening maturity and gaps.

2. Design a Sanctions Screening Roadmap: Based on your risk, we propose a tailored roadmap, from policy design to tool integration, training, and monitoring.

3. Implement & Train: We deploy screening workflows and train your team on escalation, investigation, and decision-making.

4. Maintain & Audit: With periodic reviews and monitoring in place, you’ll stay ahead of sanctions risk and regulatory changes.

Contact Platino Consulting to discuss your sanctions-screening needs and get a customized proposal.