Matter-First
Compliance Workflow
Every compliance obligation attaches to a Matter or Engagement — not just a client record. Sentine ensures each designated service has its own scoping decision, audit trail, and evidence pack.
How It Works
Under Tranche 2, compliance obligations attach to designated services, not just clients. A single client may have multiple engagements, each requiring its own scoping decision, risk assessment, and evidence trail. Sentine's matter-first architecture reflects this reality.
The matter workflow begins with a scoping gate — a structured decision about whether the engagement involves a designated service. From there, the platform guides your team through customer identification, verification, risk assessment, and evidence pack generation, all tied to the specific matter.
Every matter maintains its own lifecycle status, assigned team, linked parties, and complete audit trail. Dashboard views give your team real-time visibility into queue status, pending actions, and upcoming review dates across all active matters.
Step by Step
Follow the structured workflow from start to finish.
Create Matter
Create a new matter record, assign an owner and matter team, and link the relevant client or entity. The matter becomes the central compliance unit for this engagement.
Scoping Gate
Answer the key question: 'Is this a designated service?' Choose Yes, No, or Unsure. For No and Unsure, a rationale is required. Unsure triggers guided scoping questions to reach a decision.
Customer & Party Linking
Link customers and parties to the matter with defined roles (buyer, seller, tenant, landlord, etc.). For entities, identify beneficial owners and controllers.
Compliance Workflow
Progress through verification, screening, and risk assessment — each step producing evidence that attaches to this specific matter.
Approval & Evidence Lock
Route for senior approval when required. On approval, lock the evidence pack snapshot and set the retention anchor date for 7-year record keeping.
Key Features
Everything you need for this workflow, built into the platform.
Scoping Gate (Yes / No / Unsure)
Structured decision with mandatory rationale for out-of-scope and unsure outcomes. Guided questions help resolve uncertain scoping.
Matter Lifecycle Tracking
Full status lifecycle from draft through to approved and monitoring. Every status change is logged in the immutable audit trail.
Dashboard & Queues
Real-time dashboard showing matters by status, pending actions, overdue reviews, and team workload across your firm.
Matter Team Assignment
Assign owners and team members to each matter. Users only see matters they are assigned to, unless they hold Admin or AMLCO roles.
Party Role Management
Link multiple customers to a matter with specific roles. Track party changes over the engagement lifecycle.
Retention Anchor & 7-Year Compliance
Set retention anchor dates with documented reasons. The system tracks the 7-year retention obligation from the anchor date.
Why Matter-First Matters for Tranche 2
The AML/CTF Act attaches obligations to designated services, not client relationships. A single client may engage your firm for multiple services, each potentially triggering different compliance requirements. The matter-first model ensures every designated service engagement has its own complete compliance trail — exactly what AUSTRAC expects to see during an audit.
- AML/CTF Act — designated services trigger obligations
- Record-keeping: 7 years from relationship end or service provision
- Each engagement requires independent scoping, CDD, and risk assessment
Explore Related Features
See how this capability connects to the broader compliance workflow.
Identity Verification
Verify customers linked to each matter using safe harbour, non-safe harbour, or manual paths.
Learn moreRisk Assessment
Assess risk at the matter level with guided wizards and automatic ECDD triggers.
Learn moreAudit Trail
Every matter action generates an immutable audit log entry for complete traceability.
Learn moreStructure Your Compliance Workflows
See how Sentine's matter-first approach maps to your firm's designated service engagements.
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