INCE.L Regulatory News (INCE)

REACH

For Immediate Release

The Ince Group plc

(AIM:INCE)

Launch of an integrated technology and legal advisory know-your-customer (KYC) solution in the real estate sector

15 March 2021, London: International legal and professional services firm, Ince, today announces the launch of a new digital client onboarding solution delivered in collaboration with leading technology providers eLegal, Yoti and Arachnys. The integrated software solution combines know-your-client (KYC) technology with expert legal advice and escalation in a single platform, for seamless client onboarding to meet anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

Developed to help companies in the real estate sector demonstrate AML compliance, the solution is delivered in collaboration with industry-leading technology providers including client onboarding specialist eLegal (part of The Ince Group), leading ethical digital identity platform Yoti, and global KYC and AML data provider Arachnys. It will be initially rolled out to the real estate sector before launching in other markets where money laundering challenges are prevalent.

The launch of the new digital KYC solution comes at a time when the real estate sector is facing significant regulatory pressure to strengthen its approach to money laundering. With over £4 billion of property in London estimated to be owned by individuals or companies with a high money laundering risk1, the UK Money Laundering Regulations have tightened to include estate agents involved in the purchase or sale of real estate properties as well as high-value lettings. This is part of a wider clamp down as in the first six months of 2020, fines for money-laundering breaches in the UK totalled $47.6million (£36.6million) 2.

The integrated digital KYC solution allows the real estate sector to streamline the onboarding process and minimises human error and interference, whilst decreasing the time and resource spent on the onboarding of new clients.

By partnering with technology experts - who participate in the various stages of the client onboarding process - Ince can safeguard clients from the commercial and reputational damage associated with significant repercussions of failing to comply with money laundering regulations.

Commenting on the announcement, Mark Tantam, Managing Partner, UK and Global Head of Consulting at Ince, said: "As regulators clamp down on AML compliance in the real estate sector, incomplete or insufficient client onboarding can leave these companies vulnerable to HMRC scrutiny and potential costly penalties.

"Our collaboration with eLegal, Yoti and Arachnys addresses the existing need in the market for a fully integrated solution that involves both advisory and action-based services. This prevents critical gaps in the digital KYC process, saving time and money whilst protecting reputations. Combining specialist software with Ince's trusted legal advisory expertise on anti-money laundering regulation will provide the real estate sector with confidence that they are compliant. This presents the opportunity to use the client onboarding process as a strategic tool for proactively building anti money laundering resilience when incorporated as part of a broader, comprehensive AML framework that includes a commitment to ongoing employee training and risk assessments."

David Buxton, CEO/Founder at Arachnys added: "We're really excited by this joint offering with Ince, eLegal and Yoti which is powered by Arachnys' intelligent, enriched global KYC and AML data. We're now able to offer significant time and resource savings to any regulated industry such as real estate where it's long been a struggle to onboard new customers whilst also achieving regulatory compliance".

Robin Tombs, CEO/Founder at Yoti also commented "I am delighted that Ince has chosen Yoti to be part of its digital KYC platform. Together we'll deliver robust identity verification for company directors, Ultimate Beneficial Owners and persons of significant control to the real estate sector; with strong potential for other regulated markets. This will allow clients of the platform to feel assured that they are deploying best-in-class RegTech from four leading specialist firms, to combat fraud and financial crime."

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS 

1 Faulty towers: Understanding the impact of overseas corruption on the London property market, Transparency International UK, March 2017

2 Law Gazette: AML fines falling, global survey suggests, August 2020

About The Ince Group plc

The Ince Group is a dynamic international legal and professional services business with offices in nine countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. With over 700 people, including over 100 partners worldwide, The Ince Group delivers legal advice, strategic guidance and business solutions to clients ranging from the world's oldest and biggest businesses operating across numerous industries to ultra-high net worth individuals. Through its entrepreneurial culture and "one firm" approach, the business offers its clients over 150 years of experience, insight and relationships. The Group is driven by a unique team of passionate people whose broad expertise and deep sector specialisms provide their clients with solutions to all their complex legal and strategic needs.

Ince and eLegal are subsidiaries of the Ince Group plc.  

About eLegal

eLegal was founded in 2015, with The Ince Group as one of its investors, to fulfil a mission to build, deploy and support innovative solutions in the legal and compliance sectors. In addition to developing core, international, multi-currency legal platforms, eLegal launched a number of digitally enabled products including legal digital marketing lead generation and management, secure client payment systems, and Evaluate OnBoard, which runs internationally to comply with regulated client onboarding in the legal sector. eLegal has been collaborating with Ince for 18 months in the creation and launch of this new solution.

About Yoti

Yoti was born in 2014, introducing the free consumer app that puts your ID on your phone. The Yoti app was designed with privacy at its core, giving people a safe way to prove their identity and share third-party credentials with organisations and other people. Today, Yoti have over nine million app downloads around the world. Yoti have expanded its offering to a suite of business solutions that span identity verification, age verification and estimation, e-signing and AI anti-spoofing technologies.

About Arachnys

Arachnys accelerates onboarding and monitoring by providing the best global KYC and AML data. Enriched, intelligent data on customers enables straight-through processing and means fewer customer touchpoints, less risk and quicker revenue. Founded in 2010, Arachnys have helped some of the world's biggest banks avoid regulatory fines and remediation costs while significantly improving operational efficiency.

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