Last week, Steele Compliance Solutions announced the global rollout of its new “Risk Intelligence Data” platform. As a global leader in ethics and compliance data management technologies, Steele makes a patented addition to the compliance technology landscape that is well-positioned to continue raising the bar for data processing and automation of third-party relationships.

One downfall of many traditional compliance databases is that they risk being both over-inclusive and under-inclusive, flooding users with immaterial false alarms and historical data while, in many cases, failing to detect the critical red flags in need of attention. Steele’s Risk Intelligence Data platform was designed with a laser focus on the issues bearing the greatest impact on companies today. To this end, the Risk Intelligence Data system integrates a “business disruption data set,” providing users with a proactive response to the many new varieties of risk proliferating during the COVID-19 health crisis. This dataset is geared directly toward the early detection of likely operational and financial deficiencies among third parties, providing users with broader and more targeted depictions of likely financial risk before new business partners are engaged.

At its core, however, Risk Intelligence Data, involves the hybridization of over 5 million of highly trusted risk and compliance sources worldwide, spanning global financial crime repositories, sanctions watchlists, state-owned entities lists, political exposure directories, and news media outlets, all delivered into an accessible central feed. Even beyond this seamless integration of so many useful source technologies, what sets Steele’s new contribution apart is its ability to transform these immense quantities of reliable raw data into clear, concise insights, enlisting multiple proprietary data algorithms to recognize concerning patterns and risk vectors specific to each user’s market and risk profile. In essence, Risk Intelligence Data’s massive data coverage is backed by smart analytical tools that link various financial, legal, historical, and contextual data to isolate often overlooked indicia of underlying misconduct with precision and reduced incidence of false positives. Risk Intelligence Data was further designed with the knowledge that compliance success must continue moving and adapting to function properly. As such, the data it provides remains highly fluid, with roughly 30,000 new records added to its central repository every single day to generate risk assessments based on real-time circumstances.

It is well settled that economic downturns and tumultuous times create fertile ground for potential fraud and corruption, and an unfortunate rise in opportunism has already accompanied the abundant fears, financial stresses, medical needs, and lifestyle changes stemming from global health crisis. Along with these burgeoning risks, supply-chain and sales-channel disruptions are forcing companies to make rapid decisions on new business relationships. It is easy to see how this rush to adapt can reveal fissures in third-party vetting procedures and applicable risk controls. As such, the need for immediate access to, and thorough integral analyses of, real-time risk and compliance data cannot be understated. Compliance officials have an urgent need to meet their compliance and reporting obligations in a manner that is both simple and comprehensive, but to do so, they must think one step ahead of would-be wrongdoers. Especially in the present environment, there is very little room for error.

When properly implemented, however, comprehensive compliance technologies like Risk Intelligence Data deliver structure and reliability in the face of sometimes overwhelming market unknowns. In this way, a well-implemented automated platform can translate strong cultural values into true organizational justice built on consistent, disciplined data management practices by connecting the dots to produce cross-cutting insights and root out compliance deficiencies. This is peace of mind scarcely found in today’s world, and it secures exponential returns by freeing up employees to focus on matters beyond data management.

Often in compliance, as in life, change is the only true constant. As regulators continue raising their standards for technological solutions that produce consistent and reliable outcomes, the compliance world continues innovating to meet these elevated demands and manage modern forms of risk. As the world moves in real-time, compliance efforts must keep pace. Steele has long been at the forefront of these efforts, and its Risk Intelligence Data platform aims to be the next logical step in this progression toward keeping the global business community safe and informed.