“The solution screens and re-screens our records on a daily basis to ensure total compliance. We are very satisfied with Visual Compliance’s ability to handle large volumes and return the results right away.”
DIRECTOR OF COMPLIANCE, CRUISE LINE INDUSTRY
Helping travel and hospitality companies navigate OFAC requirements.
The travel, hospitality and leisure industry is going through an unprecedented period of change. Organizations within the industry are faced with increasingly complex issues on branding, consumer trends, operational excellence, emerging technologies, growth, and regulatory compliance.
Although the industry is undergoing continuous transformation, many players are still enjoying many degrees of strategic freedom and inherent growth rates. Demand and consumer expectations have continued to expand with the evolution of a global marketplace and the increased development of a population desiring additional conveniences and safety assurances.
OFAC screening required of “Financial Services” organizations
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) includes travel agencies in its financial services definition largely as a result of a susceptibility to being targeted by money-launderers, and risk of doing business with specially designated nationals and sanctioned countries.
As a result, the travel and hospitality sector is subject to some of the same stringent requirements applied to more traditional financial organizations, including being legally required to have Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliance screening mechanisms to ensure (and prove) that business relationships and transactions comply with the regulations.