One of the major pillars of the business model of Deltec Bank & Trust Limited (Deltec) is Risk Management. The Bank’s philosophy is one that embraces the effective management of risks as a key determinant of corporate success.

According to Shelly Cooke, Head of Compliance at Deltec, impeccable risk management is essential in order to ensure the safety and soundness of the organization. “At Deltec, we place significant emphasis on having a robust Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework because we see it as an enabling process for the achievement of our goals. The reality is that all businesses must take risks; however, it is our duty to ensure that these risks are understood, calculated and within the risk appetite of the Bank at all times,” said Cooke.

“The Compliance function is a part of the second line of defense within the ERM framework and we work with the first and third lines to manage all risks effectively across business lines. This is why we are excited about the imminent roll out of our new onboarding platform, which is a major component of our Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) and Proliferation Financing (PF) framework. We will be using technology to effectively assess the risk profile and revenue potential of prospective clients as part of the onboarding decision making process,” she continued.

According to Ms. Cooke, the new platform will be launched in 2020 after months of consultation, testing and refinement of the processes. She noted that the screening of clients against global databases, collection of KYC documentation, interaction with clients and security of clients’ information will also be significantly improved once the platform is fully implemented. She noted, “We are on the verge of a paradigm shift in the way compliance is done and we are anticipating the enhancement of our clients’ experience with Deltec during 2020.”

Cooke concluded, “The automation of erstwhile manual interventions in standard processes will not only make the process systematic and objective, but it will allow Compliance staff to focus more on complex cases. It will also enable our experts to place more emphasis on the analysis of trends and patterns to detect unusual activity.” The Bank looks forward to 2020, the new platform launch, and the opportunity to enhance the client experience with Deltec.