Systems and methods for investigating and evaluating financial crime and sanctions-related risks

• US 10,127,511 B1
• Filed: 09/22/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 1nteger, LLC
• Original Assignee: 1nteger, LLC
• Inventors: Epstein, Matthew, Schmidt, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Swartz, Stephen S
• Application Number:
  US15/713,260
• Time in Patent Office: 417 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety

Abstract

A research, analysis, regulatory compliance and media platform that connects customers to finished research and analysis produced by subject matter experts is described. The platform facilitates research, investigations, and analysis by creating a single environment in which a group of distributed analysts conduct research and investigations, store and retrieve documents and other sources, collaborate, and publish findings. Consumers are able to query a published knowledge graph, surface high value relationships, and access insights captured by analyst through a customer web portal or external production environment. The platform allows analysts and customers to research and map the commercial, financial, and facilitation networks of sanctioned or other actors that may be associated with illicit activity. Customers can access visual graphs depicting relationships between sanctioned and non-sanctioned actors in order to evaluate their possible exposure to financial crime or sanctions-related risks.

Claims

1. A computer implemented system for providing a visual interactive software tool that permits users to investigate and evaluate financial crime and sanctions-related risks, comprising:

a graph database configured to store edges, nodes, and properties in nonvolatile memory;

a computer configured with volatile and non-volatile memory to store and publish a style guide, over a network, comprising a plurality of data models that are identified in the style guide to model different categories of situations and contains requirements for a structure and format of data used to enter nodes, edges, and properties for a particular data model;

a document library configured to communicate with different data sources to receive information to be reviewed by analysts and save received information that is used by analysts to enter nodes, edges, and properties;

an internal production environment, implemented on one or more servers using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the one or more servers, and having a network connection that provides a communications connection to computers of analysts over a network, the internal production environment implements an electronic online workspace for analysts,

wherein the internal production environment configures the electronic online workspace to provide an analyst with a software interface to enter a first category of information to identify and input individual nodes, and to enter a second category of information specifying edges between the nodes in the first category and in response, the internal production environment stores the entered nodes, edges, and properties in the graph database, and

further wherein the internal production environment comprises a software engine that finds corridors, wherein the software engine, in response to the stored nodes, edges, and properties, automatically traverses pathways which are available starting from each node through connected edges and nodes, the software engine identifies any new pathways and traverses the pathways until it reaches a corridor endpoint node before a maximum number of degrees of node-traversal as specified by the software engine has been reached, or it reaches a node or edge in the traversal process that has no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation;

the software engine identifies and eliminates pathways that include the nodes or edges that have no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation and the pathways that include a total number of nodes at or above the maximum number of degrees of node-traversal, stores a set of weights in correspondence with the different types of edges and assigns weights based on a type of edge to the edges in each pathway, and in response to eliminating pathways and assigning weights, identifies the remaining pathways to be the corridors for the node and further based on a cumulative value of weights on edges in each resulting corridor that specifies a variable degree of relevance to the resulting corridors;

a subsystem implemented on a computer using memory that is configured to perform a publication process, wherein the publication process approves and transmits the resulting one or more corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties to an external production environment; and

the external production environment, implemented on a server using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the server and having a network connection for communicating with computers of customers,

wherein the external production environment is configured to receive and store the one or more resulting corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties in an external graph database which aggregates corridors and nodes, edges, and properties and maintains edge connections between nodes in different corridors,

further wherein the external production environment comprises an electronic online customer platform that includes a visual interactive interface having a visual workspace and interactive tools, the tools include a search engine that provides keyword searching capability that surfaces possible matching nodes in the external graph database, that provides the user with the ability to add an identified node to the visual workspace, that generates a visual graphic as representation of the identified node in the visual workspace, that communicates that the identified node has a certain number of connections that include a number of corridors, and that permits the user to select one of the connections or corridors to add to the visual workspace and in response displays additional nodes and edges that are part of the connection or corridor using separate visual graphical elements for nodes and edges that visually illustrate the connection or corridor and automatically displays a graphic representation of a corresponding connection between nodes, if a relationship between two nodes exists.

2. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the external production environment communicates a relative relevance of a plurality of corridors based on the weights.

3. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the external production environment is configured to display underlying properties for the nodes and edges by retrieving the underlying properties from the external graph database.

4. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the electronic online customer platform is configured to permit the customer to add a corridor to the visual workspace containing the identified node and in response, to automatically display graphic representations of nodes and edges of the added corridor.

5. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the electronic online customer platform is configured to provide the customer with option to interactively select a node displayed on the visual workspace and in response communicate corridors associated with the selected node that can be added to the visual workspace.

6. The computer implemented system of claim 1, wherein the electronic online customer platform is configured to provide the customer with option to interactively select a node displayed on the visual workspace and in response communicate other nodes associated with the selected node that can be added to the visual workspace.

7. A computer implemented method for investigating and evaluating financial crime and sanctions-related risks, comprising:

storing edges, nodes, and properties in a graph database in nonvolatile memory;

storing and publishing a style guide via a computer configured with volatile and non-volatile memory, wherein the style guide comprising a plurality of data models that are identified in the style guide to model different categories of situations and contains requirements for a structure and format of data used to enter nodes, edges, and properties for a particular data model;

receiving information in a document library to be reviewed by analysts and saving received information in the document library that is used by analysts to enter nodes, edges, and properties;

implementing an internal production environment on one or more servers using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the one or more servers and having a network connection that provides a communications connection to computers of analysts over a network, the internal production environment implements an electronic online workspace for analysts that is configured to;

provide an analyst with a software interface to enter a first category of information to identify and input individual nodes, and to enter a second category of information specifying edges between the nodes in the first category and in response, the internal production environment stores the entered nodes, edges, and properties in the graph database, and

further wherein the internal production environment implements a software engine that finds corridors, wherein the software engine, in response to the stored nodes, edges, and properties, automatically traverses pathways which are available starting from each node through connected edges and nodes, the software engine identifies any new pathways and traverses the pathways until it reaches a corridor endpoint node before a maximum number of degrees of node-traversal as specified by the software engine has been reached, or it reaches a node or edge in the traversal process that has no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation;

the software engine identifies and eliminates pathways that include the nodes or edges that have no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation and the pathways that include a total number of nodes at or above the maximum number of degrees of node-traversal, stores a set of weights in correspondence with the different types of edges and assigns weights based on the type of edge to the edges in each pathway, and in response to eliminating pathways and assigning weights, identifies the remaining pathways to be the corridors for the node and further based on a cumulative value of weights on edges in each resulting corridor that specifies a variable degree of relevance to the resulting corridors;

implementing a publication process on a computer using memory to configure the computer to perform the process, wherein the publish process approves and transmits the resulting one or more corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties to an external production environment; and

implementing the external production environment on a server using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the server and having a network connection for communicating with computers of customers,

wherein the external production environment is configured to receive and store the one or more resulting corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties in an external graph database which aggregates corridors and nodes, edges, and properties and maintains edge connections between nodes in different corridors,

further wherein the external production environment implements an electronic online customer platform that includes a visual interactive interface having a visual workspace and interactive tools, the tools include a search engine that is configured to;

provide keyword searching capability that surfaces possible matching nodes in the external graph database, provide the user with the ability to add an identified node to the visual workspace, generate a visual graphic as representation of the identified node in the visual workspace, communicate that the identified node has a number of connections that includes a number of corridors, and permit the user to select one of the corridors to add to the visual workspace and in response display additional nodes and edges that are part of the corridor using separate visual graphical elements for nodes and edges that visually illustrate the connection or corridor and automatically display a graphic representation of a corresponding connection between nodes, if a relationship between two nodes exists.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7, further comprising communicating, via the external production environment, a relative relevance of a plurality of corridors based on the weights.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 7, further comprising, displaying, via the external production environment, underlying properties for the nodes and edges by retrieving the underlying properties from the external graph database.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 7, further comprising permitting, via the electronic online customer platform, the customer to add a corridor to the visual workspace containing the identified node and in response, to automatically displaying, via the electronic online customer platform, graphic representations of nodes and edges of the added corridor.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 7, further comprising providing, via the electronic online customer platform, the customer with option to interactively select a node displayed on the visual workspace and in response communicating, via the electronic online customer platform, corridors associated with the selected node that can be added to the visual workspace.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 7, further comprising providing, via the electronic online customer platform, the customer with option to interactively select a node displayed on the visual workspace and in response communicating, via the electronic online customer platform, other nodes associated with the selected node that can be added to the visual workspace.

13. A computer readable data medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

establish a graph database storing edges, nodes, and properties in nonvolatile memory;

communicate with a computer configured with volatile and non-volatile memory that stores and publishes a style guide to receive the style guide, wherein the style guide comprises a plurality of data models that are identified in the style guide to model different categories of situations and contains requirements for a structure and format of data used to enter nodes, edges, and properties for a particular data model;

receive information in a document library to be reviewed by analysts and save received information in the document library that is used by analysts to enter nodes, edges, and properties;

communicate with an internal production environment implemented on one or more servers using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the one or more servers and having a network connection that provides a communications connection to computers of analysts over a network, the internal production environment implements an electronic online workspace for analysts that is configured to;

to provide an analyst with a software interface to enter a first category of information to identify and input individual nodes, and to enter a second category of information specifying edges between the nodes in the first category and in response, the internal production environment stores the entered nodes, edges, and properties in the graph database, and

further wherein the internal production environment implements a software engine that finds corridors, wherein the software engine, in response to the stored nodes, edges, and properties, automatically traverses pathways which are available starting from each node through connected edges and nodes, the software engine identifies any new pathways and traverses the pathways until it reaches a corridor endpoint node before a maximum number of degrees of node-traversal as specified by the software engine has been reached, or it reaches a node or edge in the traversal process that has no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation;

the software engine identifies and eliminates pathways that include the nodes or edges that have no risk relevance or low risk relevance for the purpose of corridor generation and the pathways that include a total number of nodes at or above the maximum number of degrees of node-traversal, stores a set of weights in correspondence with the different types of edges and assigns weights based on the type of edge to the edges in each pathway, and in response to eliminating pathways and assigning weights, identifies the remaining pathways to be the corridors for the node and further based on a cumulative value of weights on edges in each resulting corridor that specifies a variable degree of relevance to the resulting corridors;

communicate with a subsystem implemented on a computer using memory configured to perform a publication process, wherein the publication process approves and transmits the resulting one or more corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties to an external production environment; and

communicate with the external production environment on a server using volatile and non-volatile memory to configure the server and having a network connection for communicating with computers of customers,

wherein the external production environment is configured to receive and store the one or more resulting corridors and the nodes, edges, and properties in an external graph database which aggregates corridors and nodes, edges, and properties and maintains edge connections between nodes in different corridors,

further wherein the external production environment implements an electronic online customer platform that comprises a visual interactive interface that includes a visual workspace and interactive tools, the tools include a search engine that is configured to;

provide keyword searching capability that surfaces matching possible matching nodes in the external graph database, provide the user with the ability to add an identified node to the visual workspace, generate a visual graphic as representation of the identified node in the visual workspace, communicate that the identified node has a certain number of connections that include a number of corridors, and permit the user to select one of the connections or corridors to add to the visual workspace and in response display additional nodes and edges that are part of the connection or corridor using separate visual graphical elements for nodes and edges that visually illustrate the connection or corridor and automatically display a graphic representation of a corresponding connection between nodes, if a relationship between two nodes exists.

14. The computer readable data medium according to claim 13, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to communicate, via the external production environment, a relative relevance of a plurality of corridors based on the weights.

15. The computer readable data medium according to claim 13, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to display, via the external production environment, underlying properties for the nodes and edges by retrieving the underlying properties from the external graph database.

16. The computer readable data medium according to claim 13, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to permit, via the electronic online customer platform, the customer to add a corridor to the visual workspace containing the identified node and in response, to automatically display, via the electronic online customer platform, graphic representations of nodes and edges of the added corridor.

17. The computer readable data medium according to claim 13, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to permit, via the electronic online customer platform, the customer with option to interactively select a node displayed on the visual workspace and in response communicate, via the electronic online customer platform, corridors associated with the selected node that can be added to the visual workspace.