KYC, which stands for “Know Your Customer,” is important for several reasons:

Risk Mitigation: KYC helps organizations mitigate various risks, such as fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, identity theft, and other financial crimes. By verifying the identity of customers and understanding their background, businesses can identify and prevent potential risks associated with illegal activities.

Regulatory Compliance: KYC is a crucial requirement imposed by regulatory authorities worldwide. Financial institutions and other businesses are obligated to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations. Implementing robust KYC procedures helps ensure compliance with these regulations, avoiding legal and reputational consequences.

Customer Protection: KYC helps protect customers from identity theft and fraudulent activities. By verifying the identity of customers, businesses can ensure that their services are not exploited by criminals using stolen or fake identities. This instills trust among customers and strengthens the overall security of financial transactions.

Reputation and Trust: Implementing strong KYC measures enhances a company’s reputation and builds trust among customers and partners. When customers see that a business is taking measures to verify their identity and protect their interests, they are more likely to feel secure and confident in their interactions with that organization.

Financial Institutions’ Obligations: Financial institutions, such as banks, are legally required to perform KYC due diligence as part of their obligations to prevent money laundering and comply with AML regulations. Failing to implement effective KYC procedures can result in severe penalties, loss of license, and damage to the institution’s reputation.

In summary, KYC is important for risk mitigation, regulatory compliance, customer protection, building trust, and fulfilling legal obligations. It plays a vital role in safeguarding the financial system, preventing illicit activities, and ensuring the integrity of business transactions.

TCPA compliance refers to adhering to the regulations set forth by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a United States federal law designed to protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls, automated text messages, and faxes. TCPA compliance is crucial for businesses that engage in telephone communications with consumers to ensure they are following the law and respecting consumer rights.

Some key elements of TCPA compliance include:

1. Consent: Businesses must obtain prior express written consent from consumers before making automated telemarketing calls or sending automated text messages to their mobile phones. Consent should be clear, voluntary, and explicit, with proper disclosure of the purpose and frequency of communication.
2. Do-Not-Call Registry: Businesses must adhere to the National Do-Not-Call Registry, which allows consumers to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls. Companies should maintain their own internal Do-Not-Call lists and honor consumer requests to be removed from future contact.
3. Identification and Caller ID: Businesses are required to display accurate caller identification information, including the name of the business and contact information, when making telemarketing calls.
4. Opt-Out Mechanism: Businesses must provide an easy and accessible opt-out mechanism for consumers to request to be removed from future communications. This can be in the form of an automated opt-out process through voice or text response.
5. Time Restrictions: Calls made to consumers must adhere to specific time restrictions. In general, telemarketing calls are prohibited before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient’s local time.
6. Robocalls and Automated Messages: Businesses using automated calling systems or prerecorded messages must comply with additional regulations, including obtaining consent and providing opt-out options during the call.

Non-compliance with TCPA regulations can result in significant penalties, including fines and potential legal action. It is important for businesses to stay informed about any updates or changes to TCPA regulations and implement processes and technologies that ensure compliance with consumer protection laws.

What Does STIR/SHAKEN Mean?
STIR/SHAKEN is a framework of interconnected standards. STIR/SHAKEN are acronyms for the Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs (SHAKEN) standards. This means that calls traveling through interconnected phone networks would have their caller ID “signed” as legitimate by originating carriers and validated by other carriers before reaching consumers. STIR/SHAKEN digitally validates the handoff of phone calls passing through the complex web of networks, allowing the phone company of the consumer receiving the call to verify that a call is in fact from the number displayed on Caller ID.

What Is the FCC Doing?
The FCC is leading the push for industry adoption of these standards to help consumers as quickly as possible. The Commission prompted real progress in call authentication by starting a formal inquiry in July 2017, seeking public input on the best way to establish a reliable system to verify the caller ID information that appears on the recipient’s phone. This resulted in a North American Numbering Council-recommended framework for implementing an industry-developed standard to help prevent illegal attempts to trick consumers through caller ID spoofing. STIR/SHAKEN should establish a reliable authentication system that will help strengthen call-blocking services and unmask spoofed calls.

In November 2018, Chairman Pai demanded that the phone industry adopt a robust call authentication system to combat illegal caller ID spoofing and implement that system within a year. Chairman Pai sent letters to the major voice providers asking them to outline their plans to protect their customers and implement the STIR/SHAKEN standards—and do so without delay. In February 2019, Chairman Pai welcomed many carriers’ commitments to meeting his timeline for implementation, called on others to “catch up,” and made clear that the FCC would consider regulatory intervention if necessary. In June 2019, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, that proposed and sought comment on mandating implementation of STIR/SHAKEN if the end-of-2019 deadline wasn’t met.

Chairman Pai also scheduled a STIR/SHAKEN Robocall Summit for July 11 to examine the industry’s progress toward meeting his deadline and to identify any challenges to the deployment of the STIR/SHAKEN framework and discuss how best to overcome them. In March 2020, the Commission adopted new rules requiring all originating and terminating voice service providers to implement caller ID authentication using STIR/SHAKEN technological standards in the Internet Protocol (IP) portions of their networks by June 30, 2021. The Commission also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to take public comment on additional caller ID authentication rules.

Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act or the TRACED Act

This bill implements a forfeiture penalty for violations (with or without intent) of the prohibition on certain robocalls. The bill also removes an annual reporting requirement for enforcement relating to unsolicited facsimile advertisements.

The bill requires voice service providers to develop call authentication technologies.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shall promulgate rules establishing when a provider may block a voice call based on information provided by the call authentication framework, but also must establish a process to permit a calling party adversely affected by the framework to verify the authenticity of their calls. The FCC shall also initiate a rulemaking to help protect a subscriber from receiving unwanted calls or texts from a caller using an unauthenticated number.

This bill requires the Department of Justice and the FCC to assemble an interagency working group to study and report to Congress on the enforcement of the prohibition of certain robocalls. Specifically, the working group will look into how to better enforce against robocalls by examining issues like the types of laws, policies, or constraints that could be inhibiting enforcement.

The bill requires the FCC to initiate a proceeding to determine whether its policies regarding access to number resources could be modified to help reduce access to numbers by potential robocall violators.

Read the full act by visiting the following link TRACED ACT