Business Situation
A Tier-1 US bank faced a regulatory mandate to remediate 250,000 medium and high-risk entity files across multiple jurisdictions within six months. Fragmented data silos, duplicate profiles, and manual workflows had created a growing backlog that internal teams could not clear at the required pace.
The stakes extended well beyond throughput. Inadequate remediation exposed the institution to regulatory penalties, heightened financial crime risk, and potential enforcement actions. With existing capacity stretched thin and quality assurance under volume pressure, the bank needed a partner capable of delivering surge capacity alongside structural process transformation.
SGA Approach
Engagement Objective
Supported a Tier-1 US banking institution in executing a high-volume KYC remediation program covering 250,000 medium- and high-risk entity files across multiple jurisdictions within a six-month regulatory deadline. The engagement focused on accelerating remediation, reducing manual processing, improving data quality, and strengthening the bank’s regulatory compliance posture.
Key Activities
- Established a global delivery center of 50+ Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) specialists to provide the scale required for the accelerated KYC remediation program.
- Developed a structured Right-First-Time quality framework to improve review accuracy, minimize rework, and shorten remediation cycles.
- Implemented automated data aggregation capabilities to consolidate fragmented client information and create harmonized KYC profiles.
- Re-engineered client risk rating models to improve risk assessment accuracy and address data inconsistencies.
- Standardized KYC processes and workflows across multiple jurisdictions to improve operational consistency and regulatory readiness.
- Introduced real-time executive dashboards to provide visibility into remediation progress, operational performance, and emerging risks.
- Applied strategic right-shoring, process standardization, automation, and process excellence to optimize the overall operating model.
Execution Approach
- Built a scalable KYC remediation operating model aligned with regulatory requirements and the client’s aggressive six-month timeline.
- Combined deep FCC domain expertise, process automation, and advanced analytics to accelerate high-volume remediation activities.
- Applied a Surgical Quality Framework with a Right-First-Time methodology to improve quality while reducing review-cycle recycling.
- Automated data aggregation and standardized client profiles to address fragmented data silos and improve information accessibility.
- Strengthened risk assessment through the re-engineering of client risk rating models, reducing data discrepancies by approximately 18%.
- Enabled real-time management oversight through executive dashboards, supporting transparent and audit-ready remediation tracking.
- Optimized delivery through a combination of global delivery scale, right-shoring, automation, and standardized processes.
Reduced operational overhead by 35% and delivered at least USD 5 million in cost savings, while improving data quality, accelerating KYC remediation, and strengthening the bank’s financial crime compliance and audit readiness.
