Onboarding that builds its own compliance file.
Most firms do the compliance work twice: once at onboarding, and again when someone asks to see it. ClearMatter records due diligence against the client and matter as the work happens, so the file is already assembled when it is asked for.
- Companies House lookup and population
- Electronic identity and address verification
- Sanctions and PEP screening kept current
- Source of funds captured, evidenced and verified
Client due diligence, as part of starting the matter
Each of these is recorded against the client or matter it belongs to, not filed in a folder someone has to find later.
Companies House lookup
Search the register and populate company details, officers and structure onto the client record instead of retyping them.
Identity and address verification
Send an electronic verification request to the client and record the result against them, including the documents relied on.
Sanctions and PEP screening
Screen clients and connected persons against sanctions and politically exposed person data, with list data kept current rather than frozen at onboarding.
Source of funds
Capture the source of funds, attach the evidence relied on, and record who verified it and when.
Beneficial owners
Record beneficial owners for corporate clients and screen them individually rather than treating the company as one entity.
Risk levels and reports
Set and override risk levels with a documented reason, and record suspicious activity reports against the client where they arise.
And the evidence to go with it
Compliance is only worth as much as your ability to demonstrate it afterwards.
Conflict checks and ethical walls
Conflict checks run when a matter is created and the outcome is recorded. Confidential matters sit behind ethical walls with explicit membership.
An audit trail you can hand over
Every significant action is recorded with who did it and when, and exported as evidence. Financial entries cannot be edited after the event.
Authorisation checked, not assumed
Access is evaluated on every request rather than enforced by hiding a menu item — including for reports, exports and background jobs.
AML and compliance questions
What COLPs, COFAs and MLROs ask before they commit.
- What does ClearMatter cover for AML and client due diligence?
- Company lookup and population from Companies House, electronic identity and address verification, sanctions and PEP screening, beneficial owner records, source of funds capture and verification, risk levels with documented overrides, and recording of suspicious activity reports — all held against the client and matter.
- When does the compliance work happen?
- During onboarding, as part of the client journey, rather than as a separate exercise afterwards. The client completes your forms in the portal, verification runs against them, and the file builds itself as a by-product of starting the matter.
- How are conflicts and confidential matters handled?
- Conflict checks run when a matter is created and the result is recorded. Confidential matters can be placed behind ethical walls with explicit membership, and matter-level access is checked on every request — including by reports, exports and background jobs.
- What can we show an auditor or the SRA?
- Every significant action is recorded with who did it and when, and the record is exportable as evidence. Financial entries cannot be edited after the event, and authorisation decisions are logged alongside the operations they permitted.
- Is screening kept up to date?
- Sanctions list data is synchronised so screening runs against current information rather than a snapshot taken when the client was first onboarded.
Explore the rest of ClearMatter
Time recording
Time that gets recorded because nobody has to remember it.
Legal accounts
A ledger you cannot quietly edit, and client money rules checked before posting.
Client portal
Quote, onboard, verify and get paid in one guided journey.
Outlook & Word
File email and draft documents without leaving Outlook or Word.
Matters & workflow
Design how your firm runs a matter type, then run every matter that way.
See onboarding and screening in the demo
Walk through taking an instruction, running due diligence and opening the matter — without a sales call.