Windward expands due diligence offering to include full third-party screening

Windward (LSE: WNWD), the Predictive Intelligence company applying AI to transform global maritime trade, announced today the launch of its Non-Maritime Counterparty Due Diligence (CDD) capability. The capability will enable Windward’s customers to complete their due-diligence process with full third-party screenings all in one platform. This will enable smarter business decisions, reduce overall costs, and simplify investigation workflows.

In today’s regulatory environment, counterparty due diligence is increasingly important. Companies involved in sanctions violations, bribery of government officials, or doing business with known malicious actors have received significant fines whether the infraction was intentional or not. Often the damage done to a company’s reputation can cause significantly more financial damage than regulatory fines through loss of customers, revenue, and valuations. Companies involved in international trade need to have a comprehensive awareness of risk related to all entities they do business with to ensure reputational and regulatory safety.

The new capability rounds out Windward’s existing suite of due diligence tools for vessels, cargo, and seven layers of ownership structures up to and including Ultimate Beneficial Owners. The launch provides Windward’s customers with a screening feature that enables them to go beyond the maritime ecosystem and screen all companies and individuals, both non-maritime and maritime.

Windward’s customers can now understand and mitigate risks associated with third parties including customers, vendors, employees, contractors, and others with a greater focus on sanctions, watchlists, adverse media, and politically exposed persons. Organizations are increasingly making decisions not only for legal reasons but for ESG considerations or “moral sanctions” as well, which have significant implications on a company’s reputation and customer and employee retention.

“ESG considerations are becoming increasingly critical for any company in the world,” said Ami Daniel, Co-Founder and CEO of Windward. “Additionally, Sanctions regimes are constantly changing, and they go far beyond just the maritime industry. As economic sanctions become even more common, the more we will see companies trying to evade these sanctions, use deceptive shipping practices, and try to disguise their connections to illegal or sanctioned entities. Companies that wish to remain risk-free must adapt and bolster their due diligence processes to screen all entities they do business with, both within and outside the maritime domain, and Windward with its one-stop shop is providing just that.”

Windward’s Maritime AI solution is powered by advanced machine learning and behavioral analytics models, empowering its clients across the government, finance, shipping, energy sectors, and beyond to optimize business practices and efficiently navigate all aspects of maritime risk in real-time.