AMLBusinessRiskAssessment

Yes, if your business falls under the designated non-financial businesses and professions category, which includes real estate agents, dealers in precious metals and stones, corporate service providers and auditors. These entities must assess their exposure to money laundering across clients, geography, channels, products and transactions as part of their AML obligations, including goAML registration.

The cost depends on the size of your business, the number of clients, the sectors you deal with and how many risk categories need to be assessed. There is no fixed published fee for this advisory work, so it is quoted after reviewing your business activity and existing controls.

Failure to conduct a required risk assessment or maintain proper AML controls can expose a designated business to regulatory penalties, licence issues and reputational damage. The relevant supervisory authority determines the exact fines, so the safest course is to have the assessment in place before it is requested during an inspection.

Any designated non-financial business or profession dealing with cash intensive transactions, international clients, high value goods or cross border payments needs to consider these risk categories. Whether each category applies to you depends on your client base, the jurisdictions you deal with and the payment channels you use.

It generally follows four stages: risk identification, where potential exposure areas are mapped, risk analysis, where the likelihood and impact are evaluated, risk mitigation, where controls are put in place, and ongoing monitoring and review to keep the assessment current as the business changes.

You will typically need your trade licence, client onboarding records, details of transaction types and volumes, information on the geographies and channels you operate through, and any existing AML policies. Additional documents may be requested depending on the sector and the scope of the assessment.