West Japan City Bank Introduces "Compliance Station® UBO"
Compliance Data Lab has announced the implementation of "Compliance Station® UBO" at West Japan City Bank. This system utilizes the high-quality corporate database of Tokyo Shoko Research (TSR) to instantly provide Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) information online.
The introduction of "Compliance Station® UBO" will streamline West Japan City Bank's continuous customer management operations for corporate clients. Previously, verifying corporate entities and collecting the latest company names, addresses, representative information, UBO, and shareholder information required significant effort and cost. However, with the introduction of this system, comprehensive and up-to-date information can be collected with minimal burden, achieving sophisticated compliance management.
CDL will continue to advance product development and support to contribute to the further sophistication of West Japan City Bank's continuous customer management, as the demand for building more effective AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism) operations increases ahead of the FATF's 5th Mutual Evaluation of Japan in 2028.
Background of the Implementation
In recent years, financial crimes including money laundering have become increasingly sophisticated and internationalized, making strengthened countermeasures an urgent priority. The "Action Plan for Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, and Counter-Proliferation Financing Measures (2024-2026)" announced by the Ministry of Finance in April 2024 emphasizes the importance of enhancing the effectiveness of domestic AML measures while responding to changes in the risk environment.
Furthermore, with the FATF's 5th Mutual Evaluation of Japan scheduled for 2028, additional strengthening of countermeasures is required. Additionally, in recent years, fraudulent transactions exploiting corporate accounts, including the Ribaton case (where approximately 4,000 non-existent corporate accounts were exploited, resulting in 70 billion yen in criminal proceeds being laundered), have increased, making urgent response by financial institutions necessary.
Against this background, the Financial Services Agency published a request document in August 2024 titled "Further Strengthening Measures to Prevent Fraudulent Use of Deposit Accounts Including Corporate Accounts." The request includes strengthening identity verification procedures for account opening, enhanced monitoring of high-risk transactions, and early detection of transactions suspected of fraudulent use. Furthermore, confirmation of the purpose of use at account opening and continuous monitoring after opening are required.
Therefore, many financial institutions, particularly regional banks and credit unions, need to engage in sophisticated compliance management with limited resources, making the introduction of efficient data management methods essential as a breakthrough solution.
"Compliance Station® UBO" Service Overview
When searching for a company name on the online screen, CDL's proprietary algorithm identifies the target company's UBO based on TSR's information with the largest domestic coverage, providing data along with basic information such as company name, address, representative, industry, and corporate number. Searches can be conducted individually or through bulk processing of large amounts of data, capable of processing 300,000 corporations in approximately 3 minutes if corporate numbers are assigned.
Compliance Station® UBO Series
▶ UBO: Standard plan. Provides basic information and UBO of target companies.
▶ UBO+: In addition to the standard plan, provides intermediate shareholder information and capital structure diagrams.
▶ UBO Exec: In addition to the standard plan, provides executive information.
▶ UBO C&S: In addition to the standard plan, provides customer and supplier information.
▶ UBO Monitoring: Provides timely notifications of changes in target companies' names/addresses/UBO, etc.
Norbert Gehrke
