The 2019 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry shone a spotlight on the way financial institutions interact with, and manage, their customers. Now more than ever, the focus is on compliance, as many of the big banks have been slapped with hefty fines for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws.
But it’s not simply the finance industry that needs to verify its employee, member or customers’ financial history. From small family-run businesses through to large enterprise organisations, the impacts of a financial crime are far-ranging. In fact, almost 50% of businesses admit to having fallen victim to fraud or economic crime.
When making new hires – particularly in roles where the employee is required to take on financial responsibilities – the financial security of your organisation is paramount.
Likewise, when entering into a new business relationship, it’s important your client demonstrates its legitimacy – as a business, as an association member and as a trustworthy partner with financial affairs and/or qualifications in order.
By running a series of financial background checks, businesses and association bodies can mitigate the risks and confirm credentials.
The challenge is to ensure that you request the correct finance checks to receive only relevant information – and there are plenty to choose from.
In addition, there are non-financial checks to consider that help paint an accurate picture of your candidate, member or business partner’s credentials. These include National Police Checks, Employment Reference Checks, Qualification Checks and Professional Membership Checks, among others.
To help make the choice clearer, here are the finance checks most frequently ordered by CVCheck clients in Australia and New Zealand.
1. Bankruptcy Check
Our most frequently ordered finance check is the Bankruptcy Check. Simply, the check verifies if an individual is, or has been formerly, bankrupt. It searches all records dating back to 1982 on the National Personal Insolvency Index (NPII) and offers all information included on the NPII, including the date and type of administration or proceeding (there is more than one way a person can declare bankruptcy).
2. Credit History
As its name suggests, a Credit History Check provides detailed information relating to an individual’s personal credit history by running a thorough search of Illion’s consumer database. Information that can be provided relates to credit defaults, serious credit infringements, bankruptcies, court judgements, court summons, directorships and any other publically available information.
It’s important to note that Credit History Checks come with a number of limitations. Firstly, under the Privacy Act of 1988, employers, insurers and landlords are prohibited from receiving the information within a Credit History Check. Secondly, only information relating to a person’s open credit accounts is provided. Finally, the check is run on the person’s current full name – if they’ve been known by any other name, a check on the previous name also needs to be conducted.
3. Anti Money Laundering (AML) Check
Most importantly, this check helps organisations comply with their legal obligations under the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act of 2006. Commonly used in the hiring process of company directors, and finance roles including (but not limited to) brokers, loan officers and financial planners, an AML Check will reveal any incidence of money laundering, or financial terrorism, be that in Australia, New Zealand or anywhere else in the world.
4. Credit Default
If a person has ever defaulted on their finances, a Credit Default Check will provide that information. While not necessarily relevant to non-finance-related sectors, this check is particularly helpful when hiring for a range of financial roles such as finance mangers, mortgage brokers, credit providers and accountants. Essentially it can tell you if an individual has struggled with their personal finances.
Like the Credit History Check, the Credit Default Check is conducted on a person’s current full name. If a candidate has been known by a previous name, or names, it is worth running the check on all.
5. Business Interest Check
Business conflicts of interest can be a recruitment deal breaker, especially when it comes to directorships, board memberships and roles within the finance industry. A Business Interests Check will reveal if a person has any other business dealings that may cause a conflict of interest with the role and/or your organisation. The check (obtained from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)) will reveal the name of any company your candidate has been involved in, the position/s they held and the dates of appointment. It may also include registration and license information, if those details are held by ASIC.
Again, if a person has been known by any other name, conduct the check on these as well.
Solutions for Financial Services
A comprehensive range screening and verification checks for the financial services industry, including Bankruptcy, AML, Credit History and more.
Explore Finance Checks
So how can you cover all your bases?
By bundling several different financial screening products together, hiring managers and business owners are confirming that candidates, customers and business partners are exactly who they say they are, and that their financial history won’t expose the organisation to unnecessary risk.
CVCheck’s tailored suite of finance checks include:
The top 10 professions ordering financial checks through CVCheck:
- Company directors, CEOs and top-tier managers
- Mortgage brokers
- Finance brokers
- Accountants
- Financial advisors & planners
- Small business owner
- Students
- Travel agents
- Self employed/contractors
- Cleaners
There are a number of additional finance checks in Australia and New Zealand that can help organisations get a clearer picture of their candidate, member or client.
CVCheck offers all its checks on one convenient online platform with results delivered quickly, affordably and securely to clients.
If you would like more information on finance checks, visit our Solutions for Financial Services page, or get in touch with one of our background screening experts by booking a consultation below.
