To underscore the need for more technology to fight AML and KYC problems, Fenergo cited figures showing that since 2008, more than $36 billion of fines have been imposed for various breaches.

Fenergo, a provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management solutions, has agreed an equipment manufacturing pact with IBM.

The agreement enables the firms to create solutions meshing Fenergo's customer lifecycle management offering with IBM's regulatory technology portfolio of anti-money laundering and know-your-client solutions.

IBM plans to use this work so that clients can embed artificial intelligence-driven insights into Fernergo’s CLM offering. Fenergo's software is designed to cut “false positives” when it comes to making AML and KYC checks. (In the financial world, a false positive is akin to a false alarm that a person might, for example, be a Politically Exposed Person or criminal, when he or she is not, but has a commonly-used name.)

The stakes for wealth managers in avoiding doing business with crooks and those with questionable sources of wealth are huge, as a raft of anti-money laundering cases, often leading to heavy fines and reputational loss, show. Fenergo said that more than $10 billion in fines were imposed on companies and financial institutions in 2019 for breaking AML, KYC and sanctions regulations. Since 2008, the total value of fines amounts to $36 billion.