Meet Simon Luke, UK Country Manager at Anti-Money Laundering Software Solution: First AML

At First AML, we streamline anti-money laundering compliance through our digital onboarding platform. While we onboard both companies and individuals, we specialise in companies and other complex structures such as trusts. Our company was created after our founders saw and became frustrated by the friction and inefficiency of the anti-money laundering processes they used while working in corporate banking.

We’re more than a simple identity verification system, which is where many of our competitors are focused. Our cloud-based platform, team of local compliance analysts and global pre-verified entity ecosystem takes the whole customer due diligence onboarding process completely off our clients’ hands.

Our platform is used by financial service providers, lawyers, accountants, and real estate agents, providing them complete visibility and management oversight.

Every aspect of our user experience is optimised to make our client’s lives (and those of their customers) easier. We’re also ISO27001 certified, and our platform is designed for maximum security, ensuring our clients can sleep easy at night knowing their data is safe.
 
 

 

What do you think makes this company unique?

 
Many of our competitors only focus on the ID verification process but leave the company to put the pieces of the puzzle together themselves. In comparison, we take the due diligence process off their hands completely.

After submitting a contact name and email onto our platform, our team of specialist AML analysts picks up the case and puts together the puzzle for them – including any group company structures, ultimate beneficial owner information, and all corporate and individual verification documents necessary about their prospective customer. All our client needs to do is take a look at that full picture and decide whether to approve or deny the case.

We also have a global network of hundreds of thousands of pre-verified entities that we’ve collected. This means our clients are saved from unnecessary repetitive verifications – once they’ve been checked by us, they’ll experience fast onboarding anywhere else that uses First AML.
 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 
First AML has evolved significantly over the last few years. We recently announced our Series B Funding round which included Headline Ventures’ European arm, Australia-based VC firm Blackbird Ventures, as well as existing investors, Pushpay founder Eliot Crowther, Bedrock Capital, and Icehouse Ventures.
Alongside this, we have successfully launched in the UK, with 25 new hires. We now have 120 employees across New Zealand and Australia and plan to recruit 75 UK staff by the end of 2022.

There is a massive global market opportunity for us right now, with increased scrutiny on financial compliance regulations and sanctions due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. AML compliance is a key priority for accounting, law, financial services, and real estate companies, and we are excited to help financiers become more efficient at combating money laundering.
 

What can we hope to see from First AML in the future?

 
We want to make customer onboarding secure, fast, and frictionless, and we believe that AML is just the beginning.

We want to become the global leader in customer onboarding to help create a world where everyday people can access the financial system, while limiting criminal exploitation. To get there, we’re looking to secure a Series C investment round in the future to fund global growth as well as potential acquisitions.