LONDON, April 4 /PRNewswire/ --     World-Check, the leading global provider of structured risk
intelligence, is proud to announce the beta-launch of Country-CheckBETA, a
premier risk ranking index for overall country risk. Aggregating more than
eighty credible data sources across the full risk spectrum, the system
provides a holistic perspective on jurisdictional risk in 243 countries and
territories worldwide. Country-Check's Beta version is immediately accessible
to the public at no cost, and no subscription is required.

Country-CheckBETA can be applied to institutional risk
assessment processes, and effectively serves to complement area-specific risk
assessment by providing a fuller, more holistic indication of jurisdictional
risk.

Financial institutions, ranging from banks preparing for
international expansion to institutional investors and global underwriting
concerns looking to capture foreign market share, all stand to benefit from
Country-Check, both in terms of risk mitigation and regulatory compliance
procedures. Moreover, governmental intelligence agencies, regulatory
entities, financial intelligence units (FIUs) and cross-border law
enforcement agencies all stand to benefit from this objective jurisdictional
risk assessment solution.

Designed and engineered by World-Check, the Country-Check
country ranking methodology is based on an extensive statistical network
model. The system enables the aggregation of dozens of credible risk sources
identified by World-Check, derived from established information sources in
the public domain and categorized into three risk factors: political,
economic and criminal.

The statistical model underlying the risk calculations is the
result of the collaborative efforts of a team of academics working in
statistics and computer science. "The model underlying the Country-Check
system provides an elegant way for pre-specified sources of online
information to be aggregated in a transparent method," said Professor Mark
d'Inverno who led the team. Professor Jon Forster, who led the statistical
model development, said, "The model allows data from multiple sources and
user input to be coherently combined in principled calculations, and for
uncertainty to be effectively calibrated." He added, "The resulting
Country-Check Master Index assumptions are transparent and it provides a
verifiable model for country-specific risk assessment."

"A key challenge for existing risk indices is the fact that
users from divergent industries and sectors tend to place more emphasis on
certain risk factors than others," said Ridzwan bin Aminuddin, Country-Check
project manager. "Country-Check is unique in that the model can be customized
to reflect industry specific risk sensitivities, effectively enabling
institutions to bring their sector-specific expertise to bear when assessing
specific risk considerations".

The final model will enable users to create structured reports
instantaneously and features numerous diagrammatical display functionalities,
a holistic definition of jurisdictional or country risk, uncertainty and
probability measures, a fully customizable parameter weighting and the added
bonus of World-Check's research intelligence.

"We are extremely excited and proud to launch such a
ground-breaking country risk model, which will empower institutions to make
well informed risk mitigation policies and decisions about jurisdictional
risk," said David Leppan, founder and CEO of World-Check. "Country-Check is
the product of our commitment to continued investment in innovative
solutions, research specialists and value-added services based on our client
needs, and we will continue to do so in the coming years."

To access the Country-CheckBETA risk ranking system visit
http://www.country-check.com

ABOUT WORLD-CHECK

World-Check provides its global open source intelligence
database to more than 2500 institutions in 153 countries, including 47 of the
world's 50 largest financial institutions, and over 200 enforcement and
regulatory agencies in 90 countries. The database is updated daily in
real-time by World-Check's international research team, and is derived from
hundreds of thousands of public sources. Coverage includes Politically
Exposed Persons (PEPs), money launderers, fraudsters, terrorists and
sanctioned entities - plus individuals and businesses from over a dozen other
high-risk categories. World-Check's database and tools find direct
application in financial compliance, anti-money laundering (AML),
Know-Your-Customer (KYC), PEP screening, enhanced due diligence (EDD), fraud
prevention, government intelligence and other identity authentication,
background screening and risk-prevention practices.

For more information contact: Marion Willson, mw2@world-check.com,
+44-20-8099-7263, or e-mail contact@country-check.com