Anti-money laundering (AML) specialist, SmartSearch, has enhanced its international business reports service by adding 97 new countries to its online platform.

The improvements have been made to give businesses more tools to deal with the rise in fraud and cybercrime, which the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed has increased by almost a third in the last 12 months.

SmartSearch’s international business reports allow firms to complete Know Your Business (KYB) checks, providing comparable company information and extensive corporate ownership structures. By using a variety of data sources, the service will verify international companies, helping to mitigate the risk of fraud.

The AML expert also said its reports provide full shareholder and ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) details, alongside business identification data and consolidated financial information.

SmartSearch CEO, John Dobson, said that national lockdowns in response to the pandemic have caused a spike in attempted fraud, with organised criminals using a lack of face-to-face interactions as “the perfect opportunity to set up a fake company”.

“As so many businesses now operate internationally, ensuring a business is legitimate has never been more crucial,” Dobson said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to try to manually verify whether not only the person you’re speaking to is legitimate, but whether they are actually connected to the business they claim to be.

“Regulatory differences between countries can be challenging, but our solution is continually updated in line with laws and regulations, ensuring businesses always meets their legal requirements. Our new enhancement will help prevent businesses from falling foul to fraud and help protect clients from the rising number of fake companies.”

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