Insurance products move billions in legitimate funds every day. Criminals know that too.
An estimated $80 to $100 billion is laundered through insurance products annually mostly through life insurance, annuities, and investment-linked policies. Early policy surrender, premium overpayment, third-party funding, and beneficiary manipulation are the typologies regulators look for. Sanction Scanner gives insurance companies the screening, monitoring, and risk tools to identify these patterns before they become enforcement actions.
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Insurance looks low risk. Money launderers know otherwise.
Compliance programs that rely on manual reviews and periodic checks are not built for this volume or complexity.
Laundered through insurance every year. Most goes undetected.
Life insurance, annuities, and investment-linked policies are attractive precisely because they appear legitimate. Large premium payments, early policy surrenders, and refunds create clean exit points for dirty money.
Insurance regulations hold the insurer responsible for every broker and agent in their distribution network, even independent ones. A compliance failure at the point of sale is a compliance failure for the insurer. Gaps in the distribution chain are where regulators consistently find failures.
Insurance has historically been viewed as lower-risk for AML enforcement. That perception is wrong. Chubb, Cardif (BNP Paribas), and JLT Specialty have all faced regulatory action. The FCA, FinCEN, EIOPA, and MAS apply the same scrutiny to insurers as to banks and the penalties are in the same range.
Policyholders, beneficiaries, premium sources. All three need to be screened.
The three most common points of failure in insurance AML programs are also the three most common entry points for money launderers: policyholders using dirty money to fund premiums, beneficiaries who are sanctioned entities or PEPs, and third-party premium sources that obscure the true origin of funds. Sanction Scanner screens all three at onboarding, at policy change, and on an ongoing basis automatically and without manual intervention.
Compliance that covers your full exposure, not just the obvious touchpoints
Every module connects to your policy administration system via API in days, not months.
Screen every policyholder before the policy is issued
Sanction Scanner screens applicants against 3,000+ global sanctions lists, PEP databases, and adverse media sources across 220+ countries in seconds. Data updated every 15 minutes means you are working with current intelligence at the point of acceptance.
AML Screening →Screen beneficiaries, not just policyholders
A compliant policyholder with a sanctioned beneficiary is still a compliance failure. Sanction Scanner screens beneficiaries named on policies against the same global sanctions and PEP databases flagging risks that standard customer onboarding processes miss entirely.
AML Screening →Monitor premium payments for suspicious patterns
Overpayment with refund requests, third-party premium funding, and unusually large single-premium payments are all red flags for money laundering. Transaction Monitoring gives your compliance team configurable rules to detect these patterns automatically, with real-time alerts.
Transaction Monitoring →Risk-score every customer based on their profile and behaviour
Customer Risk Assessment assigns dynamic risk scores based on profession, geography, policy type, payment behaviour, and more. Your team applies enhanced due diligence to the customers who actually warrant it without blanket high-risk treatment across your entire policyholder base.
Customer Risk Assessment →Re-screen your entire portfolio automatically, every day
An existing policyholder can appear on a sanctions list at any point during their policy term. Ongoing Monitoring re-screens every customer daily and alerts your team the moment a risk status changes without any manual intervention or scheduled review cycle.
Ongoing Monitoring →Integrate into your policy administration system rapidly. Insurance companies cannot afford compliance implementations that disrupt underwriting, claims, or policy management workflows. Sanction Scanner integrates via a RESTful API with webhook support, designed to sit alongside existing policy administration and CRM systems. Uptime: 99.95%+. Most customers are live and screening within days of signing. No API integration fees. No server costs. No separate data subscription. Everything is included.
API Integration →Built for the frameworks that govern insurance AML globally
From FATF guidance to FCA supervision Sanction Scanner maps to every major framework that applies to insurance companies.
FATF’s guidance on the insurance sector establishes the risk-based approach that most national regulators now apply covering CDD, ongoing monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting for insurers.
Permanent life insurance, annuity contracts, and investment-linked products are covered products under the Bank Secrecy Act. Sanction Scanner supports KYC, transaction monitoring, and SAR reporting requirements for US insurers.
The FCA applies the same AML expectations to insurers as to banks. Sanction Scanner’s audit trails, screening coverage, and risk scoring are designed to meet FCA supervisory expectations for insurance firms operating in the UK.
EIOPA guidelines require insurers to implement risk-based AML programs aligned with the EU AML Directives. Sanction Scanner supports compliance across all 27 EU Member States.
MAS sets specific AML requirements for insurers operating in Singapore and across Asia Pacific. Sanction Scanner’s global data coverage supports MAS-aligned compliance for cross-border insurance operations.
Screen policyholders, beneficiaries, and premium sources all in one platform.
Book a 30-minute demo with our team. We will show you how Sanction Scanner maps to your specific products, your distribution structure, and the regulatory frameworks you operate under.
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