For Atlas, our compliance obligations extend well beyond employment law. We have clients and employees all around the world, which creates unique risk factors and compliance obligations to prevent, recognize and report any potential illegal activities. This requires a robust approach to laws related to anti-money laundering (AML), combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) and know your customer (KYC).
We are meticulous in our commitment to financial regulatory compliance, continually monitoring and adapting to changes in real time. This includes sanctions compliance, watchlist monitoring, and anti-financial crime measures. The rigor of our approach is central to mitigating reputational and legal risks to Atlas and our customers. It is also critical to our role as a responsible global citizen and careful steward of payroll dollars.
Most importantly, our risk and compliance efforts help us to establish a culture of trust with everyone we work with.
The Atlas Approach to Compliance
We evaluate partnerships carefully. We understand the risks inherent in employing and paying workers across global markets. We exercise strict due diligence when engaging with new partners, including customers and vendors. This process includes extensive checks to verify identities and confirm that the individuals representing an organization are authorized to do so. With business identity theft on the rise, this two-sided approach to authentication has become increasingly important.
We employ a risk-based strategy. Every customer and potential customer undergoes a rigorous risk assessment. We also evaluate the risk levels associated with different industries and markets with the expectation that operations in politically unstable or higher-risk regions may require enhanced due diligence. The vast majority of organizations meet our high standards for compliance, and we believe this rigorous screening process benefits not only Atlas but also our customers and the broader EOR industry.
We see compliance as a collective responsibility. At Atlas, compliance is not limited to a single department—it is a company-wide responsibility. Every employee, regardless of their role, is committed to being on the lookout for potential risks and reporting them accordingly. We have mandatory compliance training (totaling 1,576 hours and counting), learning sessions and continuing education so everyone from sales and marketing to operations, admin and technology can recognize red flags and respond appropriately.
Collaboration is a cornerstone of this strategy. Atlas has framework in place to keep employees informed about regulatory changes and geopolitical developments. Legal, Operations, HR, and Marketing teams work closely to disseminate critical knowledge across the organization. Additionally, our whistleblowing policy ensures that concerns can be raised without fear of retaliation, fostering a culture of transparency and accountability.
We are built for global compliance. As a global company, Atlas is structured to address risk and compliance on a regional level. Experts are strategically positioned in the APAC, EMEA, Latin America and North America. Between them, they specialize in KYC, anti-bribery and corruption, privacy and data protection, sanctions, whistleblowing, third-party vendor risk and enterprise risk management. This distributed expertise allows us to navigate regional complexities while maintaining a unified global compliance strategy.
Our work is never done. We approach compliance with the same vigilance as cybersecurity, continuously adapting to new regulations, emerging threats and technological advancements. Bad actors will always seek to exploit vulnerabilities, which is why Atlas proactively monitors watchlists and reassesses previously cleared entities when necessary. Just as our Technology team remains alert to evolving cyberthreats, Atlas remains vigilant in safeguarding its risk and compliance programs.
The Value of Rigorous Compliance
For potential customers, the extent of our compliance measures may seem like additional work. The majority of this responsibility falls on Atlas’s shoulders. Some might wonder whether discussing risk assessments and ongoing monitoring could deter potential clients. We welcome the scrutiny.
Our customers appreciate and rely on our diligence. They seek us out for our expertise and commitment to compliance, recognizing that anyone hesitant about this level of meticulous oversight likely warrants further examination.
At its core, our approach to compliance is about more than just regulatory adherence—it's about trust and integrity. Customers, business partners and employees deserve to trust us, and we will do all we can to earn that trust. When it comes to doing the right thing with integrity as core, you should expect to see us at the forefront. Always.