According to the regulations on combating money laundering, financial institutions and designated non-financial professionals are required to conduct customer due diligence, including using reliable independent third-party data sources to determine if the customer is a politically exposed person, a sanctioned individual, or on any other blacklist. Therefore, screening is conducted whenever a customer account is opened. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's AML Guideline[1]explicitly states that  -- financial institutions should screen the names of customers and beneficial owners against publicly available information or commercial electronic databases before establishing a business relationship and periodically thereafter, to the extent practicable, to determine whether the customer is a politically exposed person.

The regulations also require financial institutions and designated non-financial professionals to periodically review the documents, data, and information of their customers to ensure ongoing monitoring of the business relationship. For high-risk customers, regulatory authorities expect financial institutions to conduct a review of these customers at least once a year.

Before conducting screening, financial institutions and designated non-financial professionals are required to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, which include requesting identification documents and other background information from the customers. Users can then input the relevant customer data into Screen-X for searching, obtaining relevant file results, and determining if the customer matches any individuals on those lists. This process allows for a risk assessment to be conducted. The more complete the data input by the user, the more accurate the search results will be.

[1] Guideline on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (for Authorized Institutions)

Before conducting screening, at a minimum, users would need to request the following information from the customer:

•Full name: The customer's complete legal name, including first name, middle name (if applicable), and last name.
•Date of birth: The customer's birth date, which is important for identification and age verification purposes.
•Gender: The customer's gender, as it may be relevant for certain screening criteria.
•Region/Nationality: The customer's region or nationality, which helps determine their jurisdiction and potential risk factors.

These basic details are essential for initial identification and to begin the screening process. However, additional information may be required depending on the specific requirements and regulations of the institution or industry.

Screen-X the default matching threshold percentage (also known as Filter Level) is set to 85% for every “Search”. This is the level we believe the users are seeing the best results.

The matching threshold percentage can be arranged from 75% to 100%. Users can use the slide or enter your desired percentage in the box.

The higher the percentage, the more precise the result, but also narrower the result. Unless users are highly assured about the Clients’ identities and backgrounds, we do not recommend adjusting the matching threshold to 98% or higher, as it may filter out some possible results.

Meanwhile, the lower the percentage, the less precise the result, but also wider the result. But we have found that setting the threshold to lower values resulted in an increased number of false positive matches, which may require extra manpower and knowhow to identify user’s clients with the Profiles.

The screening report is crucial for internal audits, regulatory compliance, and demonstrating due diligence to regulatory authorities.

After completing the Search, users can review the screening reports. If users need to download the screening report, they can click the "Download Screening Report" button, and the system will process the request and generate a compressed (ZIP) file. The compressed file will include the screening report, matched files, unmatched files, and unconfirmed files.

Once the compressed (ZIP) file is generated, the system will notify the user via email or other designated means to download it. Users can then enter relevant information such as dates and names on the "Reports" page to search and download the report. If users need to re-download related reports in the future, they can also visit the Reports page at any time during the service period.

Finally, users are required to keep records for a minimum of five years to comply with anti-money laundering regulatory requirements.

The screening report contains the search records, screening results analyzed by compliance personnel, and relevant notes. Users can utilize this screening report to assess customer risk and conduct business analysis, enabling them to arrange corresponding monitoring tasks.

If potentially matching names are identified during the screening period, users should perform more rigorous checks to determine if the potential matches are indeed accurate. If users suspect any violations related to terrorist financing, proliferation financing, or sanctions, they should report them to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (or relevant regulatory authorities). Results of the more rigorous checks, along with the screening records, should be documented or recorded electronically in Screen-X system.

Furthermore, the screening report also includes the date and time of the screening, as well as information about the responsible colleagues, ensuring compliance with the requirements of maintaining an audit trail as per anti-money laundering regulations.