Work Argyll is an office lease provider offering private offices, co-working spaces, virtual offices, and meeting rooms in over 30 iconic London locations. For the past 20 years, they have focused on creating the future of the premium office and co-working space experience.
The company’s previous approach to carrying out due diligence during onboarding was a mixture of manual processes and an EIV point solution.
“We are a unique type of industry”, says Marco De Rosa, Head of Operations at Argyll. “We have many different types of clients, and many variables within each – no two cases are the same.”
The team at Work Argyll also needed assistance when it came to EDD, or enhanced due diligence. “Understanding and getting a hold of the right people and documents was proving very challenging”, notes Marco.
The search for a solution.
The team reached out to First AML to see what the platform could offer their business. “We were looking for a solution that would be simple to use and be able to help us with the more complex entities that we were onboarding”, explains Marco.
Work Argyll also had a backlog of cases that they wanted remediated.
“With First AML bringing in a more comprehensive AML process to our business, we wanted to ensure that all our current clients met these more rigorous requirements.”
Working with First AML through an HMRC AML audit.
A year after they started using the First AML platform, they were selected for a random AML audit by the HMRC, the supervisory body for regulated entities in the property sector.
After supplying a list of clients to the HMRC, the supervisory body responded with a list of clients they wanted to check the documentation for.
“They came into our offices and we set them up in a meeting room with laptops that were logged into the First AML platform - a very straightforward process”, recalls Marco.
“With First AML, we can get on with building our business and we feel confident that we are meeting our compliance obligations.”
- Marco De Rosa, Head of Operations at Argyll
Overall, the experience was painless for Argyll. “Their main job is to make sure what is in your AML policy is what actually happens”, remarks Marco.
“Some companies might fail an audit when they have a strong policy but don’t follow through. And since we’re in a high risk industry, they want to make sure that we’re doing our due diligence and collecting all our compliance documents prior to us starting a relationship with our clients.”
For other firms who are looking for advice around how to manage an AML audit, Marco advises, “ensure you have a strong policy in addition to your strong processes – they should be a living document that evolves as your business grows.”
Benefits of using First AML
“First AML is easy to use – most of it is common sense, and quick, and it takes away all the hassle of trying to get the information from the client”, says Marco. “There was minimal training required to get started.”
“I also love the reporting tool - I use it to give a weekly summary to our leadership team”, he adds.
“With First AML, we can get on with building our business”, Marco states. “We feel confident that we are meeting our compliance obligations, and we don’t have to deal with the time-intensive administrative work of AML.”
About First AML
First AML simplifies the entire anti-money laundering onboarding and compliance process. Its SaaS platform, Source, stands out as a leading solution for organisations with complex or international onboarding needs. It provides streamlined collaboration and ensures uniformity in all AML practices.
First AML transforms an otherwise complex and manual process into one that is simple, cost-effective, and compliant for businesses. By delivering efficiency and time savings, it protects reputations and enables companies to stay on the right side of history in the face of global threats.
Keen to find out more? Book a demo today! No time for a long demo? No problem. See what Source by First AML can do for your business in 2 minutes – watch the short demo here.