NEW YORK, July 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- KYC 3.2 addresses financial sector's rising budgetary concerns

The latest customer due diligence technology just released by Fortent
helps banks, brokerages, credit unions, and insurance companies take on the
#1 concern faced by financial firms today: cutting costs.

Stricter customer due diligence laws in the U.S. and around the world
have forced financial institutions to increase compliance efforts in this
area -- leading to escalating compliance expenses at a time when the sector
can least afford it. According to recent industry surveys, 60% of
institutions' direct compliance spending is in staff compensation, and with
financial institutions struggling against huge losses and liquidity issues,
firms are seeking ways to put the brakes on these rising operating budgets.

"There is a real business need for compliance technology that can drive
cost savings while ensuring best practice," says Sandy Jaffee, Chairman and
CEO of risk and compliance expert Fortent.

"Fortent set out to develop a KYC solution that would make a dramatic ROI
impact -- with the goal of earning pay-back in less than one year," says Ms.
Jaffee. "We achieved this goal." She notes that in the case of one client, a
West Coast-based bank, the Fortent due diligence technology is generating
such significant productivity gains in the bank's account opening process
that it expects to recover the cost in just a few months.

In addition to reducing look-up times, Fortent KYC 3.2 eliminates the
need for analysts to manage multiple data feeds and enables smarter
risk-rating so that the riskiest customers get the most attention. Financial
institutions of all sizes are seeking these features in their efforts to hold
down the resource-consuming processes entailed in KYC -- from Customer
Identification Programs (CIP) to ongoing Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and
Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD). Mid-sized and smaller institutions are still
bogged down with manual and error-prone processes, while large firms face
inefficiencies caused by the sheer volume of searches required, incompatible
software in different lines of business, and redundant or duplicative tasks.

"Tackling this incompatibility issue was another top priority for us,"
says Ms. Jaffee. "Fortent KYC was designed to have a truly groundbreaking
interoperability that enables AML and KYC systems to 'talk' to each other
without suspicious activity falling through the cracks. Compliance analysts
and investigators can work easily across their AML and KYC systems, saving
time and improving risk controls."

Fortent KYC can be implemented at an institution in a matter of weeks,
and is available also as a hosted solution, which can be up and running in 3
days.

An article demonstrating the cost savings of Fortent KYC is available for
download at: http://www.fortent.com/knowledge_center/articles.php.

For more information or to speak with Ms. Jaffee, please contact Suzanne
Oaks or Davia Temin of Temin and Company at +1-212-588-8788 or
news@teminandco.com.

About Fortent

Fortent provides risk and compliance solutions to financial institutions,
government agencies, and individuals in more than 100 countries. It has
relationships with more than 400 institutional clients, including 26 of the
world's 30 largest financial firms, which use Fortent technology in over
50,000 locations worldwide.

Fortent combines award-winning technology innovation and expertise in
regulatory risk to help financial institutions improve productivity and
protect hundreds of millions of accounts from money laundering, terrorist
financing, and other financial crimes. Endorsed by the American Bankers
Association as the industry gold standard, Fortent's advanced systems deliver
the most efficient and effective anti-money laundering, know your customer,
and fraud detection available on the market today. Technology clients include
The Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi-UFJ, Barclays, JPMorgan
Chase, Justice Federal Credit Union (U.S. Department of Justice), Lloyds TSB,
The Royal Bank of Scotland, Scotiabank, and UBS.

Through its information and training businesses, Fortent delivers the
world's leading sources of regulatory news, analysis, and guidance.
Moneylaundering.com (and, in Spanish, lavadodinero.com) is the top-ranked
site for money laundering news across the globe, while Fortent Inform serves
as a groundbreaking regulatory information management tool for institutions
in the U.S. In addition to producing the world's largest money laundering
conference and exhibition, Fortent offers the industry's leading professional
certification program, career planning tools, web seminars, and conferences
in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Fortent's global team operates from key offices in New York, Miami,
Atlanta, London, and Tokyo. For further information, visit www.fortent.com.

CONTACT: Suzanne Oaks or Davia Temin of Temin and Company at
+1-212-588-8788 or news@teminandco.com, for Fortent.

Web site: http://www.fortent.com
              http://www.fortent.com/knowledge_center/articles.php
              http://www.Moneylaundering.com
              http://www.lavadodinero.com