System and Method For Identifying Suspicious Financial Transactions

Abstract

A computer system detects questionable financial transactions. The system includes a data source component configured to access a database of transaction data, and a data storage component configured to store transaction data that is to be reviewed. An account compilation component of the system is configured to compile data sets from the transaction data. Each data set includes pertinent external transactions in the transaction data that are related to a particular individual client during a screening time interval. The account compilation component excludes internal transactions from the data sets. A screening component is configured to compare each data set with at least one screening criterion. A reporting component is configured to report data sets that satisfy the at least one screening criterion.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer system for detecting financial transactions by individual clients appropriate for review, the computer system comprising:
 one or more data storage devices storing a list of excluded internal transaction types and financial transaction data for financial transactions by the individual clients;   one or more computer processors in communication with the one or more data storage devices;   a communications device in communication with the one or more computer processors and the one or more data storage devices; and   a memory, coupled to the one or more computer processors, storing program instructions which are operative with the one or more computer processors to:
 receive one or more financial transactions; 
 compare each of the received financial transactions to the list of excluded internal transaction types; 
 determine, for each of the financial transactions, based on the comparison, whether the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction; 
 responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction, exclude the financial transaction from additional screening; 
 responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is not an excluded internal transaction:
 determine whether a compilation of transactions already exists for transactions of the respective individual client; 
 responsive to a negative determination that the compilation of transactions already exists for the respective individual client, create the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client; and 
 add the financial transaction to the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client that performed the financial transaction, thereby compiling separate compilations of transactions for one or more of the individual clients from the financial transaction data, each compilation of transactions comprising financial transaction data related to a respective individual client; 
 
 compare, for each compilation of transactions, the external financial transactions in the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client, with at least one screening criterion for detecting a suspicious pattern of financial transaction activity by each respective individual client; 
 determine, based on the comparison, whether the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client includes financial transactions that match the at least one screening criterion; and 
 responsive to an affirmative determination that the compilation of transactions includes financial transactions that match the at least one screening criterion, add the compilation of transactions to a monitoring report; and 
 output the monitoring report for review. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the list of excluded internal transaction types stored in the one or more data storage device includes systematic redemption transactions, dealer account transactions, omnibus account transactions, dividend transactions, capital gain transactions, and redemption transactions due to death of an account holder. 
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the compilation of transactions for at least some of the respective individual clients includes a plurality of financial transactions, and the plurality of financial transactions collectively relate to a plurality of accounts related to the respective individual client for the each compilation of transactions. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one screening criterion includes one or both of a criterion based on (a) an aggregate monetary amount of all external financial transactions in a respective compilation of transactions for the individual client, and (b) an aggregate number of all external financial transactions within the screening time interval in the respective compilation of transactions for the individual client. 
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 4 , wherein the aggregate monetary amount is modified from time to time. 
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 4 , wherein the aggregate number of financial transactions is modified from time to time. 
     
     
         7 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further operative with the one or more computer processors to exclude selected external financial transactions. 
     
     
         8 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the program instructions being operative with the one or more computer processors to output the monitoring report for review comprises the program instructions being operative with the one or more computer processors to transmit, by the communication device, the monitoring report to an analyst computer for review. 
     
     
         9 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one screening criterion comprises at least one screening for detecting a suspicious pattern of financial transaction activity by each respective individual client during a screening time interval. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operating a computer system to identify one or more questionable financial transactions, the method comprising:
 accessing, by one or more computer processors, a database of financial transaction data for one or more financial transactions from a data warehouse storage system;   comparing, by the one or more computer processors, each of the accessed financial transactions to a list of excluded internal transaction types;   determining, by the one or more computer processors, for each of the financial transactions, based on the comparison, whether the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction;   responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction, excluding, by the one or more computer processors, the financial transaction from additional screening;   responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is not an excluded internal transaction:
 determining whether a compilation of transactions already exists for transactions of the respective individual client; 
 responsive to a negative determination that the compilation of transactions already exists for the respective individual client, creating the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client; and 
 adding the financial transaction to the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client that performed the financial transaction, thereby compiling separate compilations of transactions for one or more of the individual clients from the financial transaction data, each compilation of transactions comprising financial transaction data related to a respective individual client; 
   comparing, by the one or more computer processors, for each compilation of transactions, external financial transactions in the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client with at least one screening criterion for detecting a suspicious pattern of financial transaction activity by each respective individual client; and   determining, by the one or more computer processors and based on the comparison, whether the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client includes financial transactions that match the at least one screening criterion; and   reporting, by the one or more computer processors, each compilation of transactions for each respective individual client that satisfies the at least one screening criterion.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the list of excluded internal transaction types includes systematic redemption transactions, dealer account transactions, omnibus account transactions, dividend transactions, capital gain transactions, and redemption transactions due to death of an account holder. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least some of the compilations of transactions each include a plurality of financial transactions, and the plurality of financial transactions collectively relate to a plurality of accounts related to the respective individual client for the each compilation of transactions. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one screening criterion includes one or both of a criterion based on (a) an aggregate monetary amount of all external financial transactions in a respective compilation of transactions for the individual client, and (b) an aggregate number of all external financial transactions within the screening time interval in the respective compilation of transactions for the individual client. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising excluding, by the one or more computer processors, selected external financial transactions. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein reporting each compilation of transactions for each respective individual client that satisfies the at least one screening criterion comprises transmitting, by a communications device, a monitoring report including each reported compilation of transactions to an analyst computer for review. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one screening criterion comprises at least one screening for detecting a suspicious pattern of financial transaction activity by each respective individual client during a screening time interval. 
     
     
         17 . An account administration server computer system configured to handle financial transactions and manage records relating to financial accounts issued by a financial institution, comprising:
 a database system storing financial transaction data;   an analyst computer system; and   a transaction monitoring server computer system for detecting questionable financial transactions by individual clients, the transaction monitoring server computer system in communication with the account administration server computer system and the analyst computer system, and comprising:
 one or more data storage devices storing a list of excluded internal transaction types and financial transaction data for financial transaction by the individual clients; 
 one or more computer processors in communication with the one or more data storage devices; 
 a communications device in communication with the one or more computer processors and the one or more data storage devices; and 
 a memory, coupled to the one or more computer processors, storing program instructions which are operative with the one or more computer processors to:
 receive data indicative of financial transactions from the database system of the account administration server computer; 
 compare each of the financial transactions to the list of excluded internal transaction types, wherein the list includes systematic redemption transactions; 
 determine, for each of the financial transactions, based on the comparison, whether the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction; 
 responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is an excluded internal transaction, exclude the financial transaction from additional screening; 
 responsive to a determination that the financial transaction is not an excluded internal transaction:
 determine whether a compilation of transactions already exists for transactions of the respective individual client; 
 responsive to a negative determination that the compilation of transactions already exists for the respective individual client, create the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client; and 
 add the financial transaction to the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client that performed the financial transaction, thereby compiling separate compilations of transactions for one or more of the individual clients from the financial transaction data, each compilation of transactions comprising financial transaction data related to a respective individual client during a screening time interval; 
 
 compare, for each compilation of transactions, the financial transactions in the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client with at least one screening criteria for detecting a suspicious pattern of financial transaction activity by each respective individual client; 
 determine, based on the comparison, whether the compilation of transactions for the respective individual client includes questionable financial transactions that match the at least one screening criteria; and 
 responsive to a determination that a compilation of transactions matches the at least one screening criterion, adding the compilation of transactions to a monitoring report; and 
 output the monitoring report for each compilation of transactions for each respective individual client that satisfies the screening criteria to the analyst computer for review. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , wherein the list of excluded internal transaction types stored in the one or more data storage devices further includes dealer account transactions, omnibus account transactions, dividend transactions, capital gain transactions, and redemption transactions due to death of an account holder. 
     
     
         19 . The computer system of  claim 18 , wherein at least some of the compilation of transactions each include a plurality of financial transactions, and the plurality of financial transactions collectively relate to a plurality of accounts related to the respective individual client for the each compilation of transactions. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one screening criteria includes one or both of a criterion based on (a) an aggregate monetary amount of all external financial transactions in a respective compilation of transactions for the individual client, and (b) an aggregate number of all external financial transactions within the screening time interval in the respective compilation of transactions for the individual client.