AML screening for smaller, less common currencies: practical advice?
Been diving deeper into AML requirements, especially around customer onboarding and ongoing monitoring. Most of the resources, understandably, focus heavily on major currencies ($USD, $EUR, $GBP) and the typical transaction patterns. My firm, however, deals with a fair number of clients transacting in some less common, but perfectly legitimate, national currencies. We’re talking about flows from smaller economies, often for very specific trade finance purposes, not necessarily huge volumes but frequent enough to warrant robust screening. The usual software tools are great for the majors, but when it comes to currencies like $ZAR, $IDR, or even some smaller African currencies, the availability and reliability of sanctions lists, PEP databases, and adverse media in those specific local contexts seems… thinner.
My question is for those who regularly handle this: what are your practical strategies for effective AML screening and ongoing due diligence when dealing with these less common currencies and jurisdictions? Are there specific third-party providers or methodologies you’ve found effective beyond the usual suspects? How do you manage the risk of missing something when the data pipeline for these specific contexts isn't as rich?