COMPLIANCE OFFICERS MUST HAVE CULTURAL, GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORICAL LITERACY TO FUNCTION

Here's a true story that you simply could not have made up. A consumer in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, wrote to Apple, to find out why his £799 I-Phone refund had not been sent. His name is Sharakat Hussain.

Apple's response: he was on the Denied Parties (sanctions) List, and no refund would be forthcoming. Upon further inquiry, he was told that he was asked to supply proof that he WAS NOT SADDAM HUSSEIN.

Any compliance officer who has a rudimentary education knows:

(1) Saddam Hussein and Sharakat Hussein are not even close, regarding false positives.
(2) The former dictator of Iraq is deceased, having been hanged, for War Crimes, among dozens of others, in 2006.

Apple's compliance department, in the UK, must be staffed with imbeciles; these are two fatal compliance errors, either of which demonstrates a total and complete lack of general knowledge, and of familiarity with commonly accepted compliance techniques. That is why I always suggest that your compliance staff (A) have an education, and (B) know how to think outside the box, when vetting customers or clients.

One also wonders what the supervisor of the bright light who sent the email was doing, when he subordinate reported this issue. Apple: please wake up.