Fenergo completes acquisition of regtech Sentinels

The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, strengthens Fenergo’s ability to deliver end-to-end Software as a Service (SaaS) based-CLM with smart transaction monitoring to financial institutions. The deal comes as the industry continues to be challenged by rising financial crime, evolving regulations, operational inefficiencies, and pressure to deliver a better customer experience. Fenergo enables financial institutions to adhere to KYC and AML regulations while onboarding clients safely and efficiently accelerating readiness to do business. Sentinels’ transaction monitoring solutions are purpose-designed to detect and eliminate criminal transactions fast and at scale. 

As a result of the deal, Fenergo’s clients and financial institutions will be able to combine rich KYC profiles with client behavioural data for continuous and granular KYC monitoring. This will also ensure that the most appropriate due diligence is exercised. The acquisition will enable Sentinels to scale rapidly, increase its global footprint, and strengthen its ability to serve the needs of larger financial institutions. 

With rising financial crime, changing sanctions and increased regulatory scrutiny, financial institutions are prioritising investment on technology that enables holistic and continuous customer analysis.  According to research by Celent, 63% of financial institutions expect budgets to increase for financial crime and fraud with 17% anticipating an increase by more than 5%. Overall spend for AML and KYC technology has increased by 13% since 2020 to $10.7 billion.  

Commenting on the deal, Marc Murphy, CEO of Fenergo, said:

“Our shared goal of aiming to solve the increasing compliance and operational challenges facing financial institutions made Sentinels an ideal fit. By adding transaction compliance to our existing client onboarding and product origination solutions, financial institutions can monitor and review client behaviour and identify risks on an ongoing basis. This blended approach to financial crime makes us perfectly placed to address the rising compliance challenges faced by financial institutions more efficiently.” 

Joost van Houten, Founder and CEO of Sentinels, added:

“With compliance costs surging to unsustainable levels, being blindsided by increasingly sophisticated criminal activity is simply not an option. It is therefore imperative for financial institutions to break through data siloes and start assessing client risk holistically across KYC and transaction monitoring. The combined force of Fenergo and Sentinels will ensure leading financial institutions and the fintech disrupters are best equipped to navigate the complex regulatory environment and fight financial crime.” 

Both firms’ technology is powered by the cloud. Sentinels, launched in 2019 with venture studio Slimmer AI, differentiates from other transaction monitoring firms by leveraging a combination of customisable business rules, machine learning and network analysis that increases the accuracy of behavioural client risk profiles and the detection of financial crime.