Glossary

Glossary of common terms used in Financial Crime Compliance (FCC), including alert types, screening categories, and regulatory concepts.

Browse this list of common terms in Financial Crime Compliance (FCC).

• Alert: a signal generated by a screening or monitoring system when potentially relevant activity, data, or behavior matches predefined criteria. An alert does not necessarily indicate suspicious activity; it indicates that the case should be reviewed further.
• Adverse media: negative news or information related to individuals or entities that may indicate financial crime, reputational risk, or compliance concerns.
• Disposition: the final decision or outcome assigned to an alert after review by an analyst or automated tool. Common dispositions include false positive, true positive, or escalated for further review.
• Customer Due Diligence (CDD): the process of identifying and verifying a customer's identity, understanding the nature and purpose of the customer relationship, and assessing the customer's risk profile at onboarding and throughout the relationship.
• Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): additional investigation and verification performed for higher-risk customers, transactions, or relationships.
• Level 1 (L1) Adjudication: the initial review of an alert to determine whether it can be resolved or should be escalated for additional review.
• Politically Exposed Person (PEP): an individual who holds or has held a prominent public function and may present increased risk.
• Sanctions screening: the process of checking customers or transactions against sanctions and watchlists.
• Screening: the process of comparing customer, counterparty, or transaction data against watchlists or risk data sources, such as sanctions lists, PEP lists, or adverse media sources, to identify potential compliance risks.
• Transaction monitoring: ongoing analysis of transactions to detect potentially suspicious behavior.