Assurance & advisory

Regulators are placing greater emphasis upon the importance of internal controls with assurance requirements becoming more and more embedded in many financial crime compliance frameworks.

At OpusDatum, we deliver independent assurance and expert advisory services to help financial institutions strengthen financial crime controls, manage regulatory risk, and meet supervisory expectations with confidence.

We partner with FCC Line 1 and Line 2 teams, Compliance, Internal Audit, and business operations to provide tailored, risk-based support. For sensitive matters, we work closely with legal counsel to prepare robust, defensible reporting for regulators and law enforcement, including the FCA, OFAC, and the US Department of Justice.

Our consultants regularly act as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on s166 Skilled Person reviews and provide independent guidance to firms navigating these reviews.

We assess and enhance financial crime frameworks, focusing on clear policies and procedures, defined lines of defence, and practical staff training. Our refined methodologies and toolkits - developed through years of real-world engagements - enable faster, cost-effective delivery without compromising on quality.

OpusDatum is your trusted partner for building effective, resilient compliance frameworks that stand up to regulatory scrutiny and work in practice.

Our services

Assurance

FCC programme audits covering governance, policies and procedures, risk assessments, controls, training, and MI reporting.
Conduct independent health checks and benchmark performance against industry best practice.
Independent assessment of trade finance sanctions screening process, including circumvention detection controls and OFAC reporting.
Determine effectiveness of end-to-end sanctions screening process, including OFSI reporting.
Review effectiveness of transaction monitoring processes including SAR reporting.
Produce comprehensive, independent assurance reports for third parties.
Full independent testing to demonstrate that screening software is working correctly.
Monitor payments for FTR, FATF R.16 and FATCA compliance.

Governance & Risk

Design target operating models for enterprise-wide FCC governance across all Lines of Defence and business operations.
Develop governance, oversight and Three Lines of Defence Model processes.
Design and implement risk appetite frameworks.
Conduct enterprise-wide financial crime risk assessments.
Develop bespoke risk assessment software to assess inherent and residual financial crime risk.
Support internal risk and compliance functions to assess risk and test existing processes through gap analysis and/or bench marking.

Systems and controls that are purposeful, efficient and courageous in identifying suspicious activity are vitally important.

Mark Steward

FCA

Advisory

Build FCC frameworks, underpinned by policy, standards and procedures covering different financial crime risks.
Produce standards, guidelines and procedures for transaction monitoring and sanctions screening.
Design and uplift existing financial crime controls, including customer risk assessment, SAR reporting and controls testing.
Develop automated rules to eliminate false positives.
Supplement CDD and KYC due diligence.
Perform complex data analytics, trend analysis and data mapping on payment and customer account activities.

Are your financial crime controls strong enough?

Regulations are evolving, and compliance failures can be costly. Is your organisation prepared? Contact us today to strengthen your financial crime framework.