By Greentech
Lead Team: ATTUS Technologies, an affiliate company of Computer Services,
announced that it protects more than 3 billion square feet of U.S. soil with
its anti-terrorism watch list monitoring solutions used by regulatory
compliance officers in real estate.
A number of
real estate firms are using WatchDOG Pro to fulfill business transactions
within Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliance requirements.
Regulatory
compliance officers in the real estate industry point to the 2009 forfeiture of
the 650 Fifth Ave. skyscraper, resulting from serious OFAC violations,
specifically, doing businesses with the Iranian Government, as the need to take
a more proactive approach to compliance. The properties wound up under
forfeiture as proceeds of money laundering offenses.
“We’re
seeing a steady increase in the number of real estate companies turning to
ATTUS for OFAC compliance, because of high-profile cases like 650 Fifth Ave.,
or where real estate management agencies suffered serious penalties for either
ignoring or botching watch list screening efforts,” said Bradley Allen, vice
president of ATTUS Technologies.
ATTUS
Technologies surpassed the 3 billion mark with real estate companies and
property managers in large and small markets choosing the company’s watch list
screening solutions in 2011. WatchDOG Pro provides companies with a Web-based
software as a solution that features ATTUS Technologies’ search algorithm that
generates a less than 0.5 percent false positive rate and differentiates subtle
name variations, such as abbreviations and initials.
Watch list
compliance enforcement by the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC has been growing
increasingly strict, and backed by financial penalties, for companies found to
have failed to screen the names of potential customers against applicable watch
lists. The OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List helps keep money out
of the hands of terrorists, money launders, drug dealers and any other
potential enemies of the United States.