Source of wealth
Source of wealth refers to the origin of a client's total net worth or assets — for example, built through a business, inheritance, investments, or professional career. Source of wealth is a broader concept than source of funds and is typically assessed for PEPs and other higher-risk clients as part of Enhanced Due Diligence.
for a PEP client, documenting how they accumulated their overall wealth — and corroborating it against publicly available information — is part of the EDD process.
How different roles use Source of wealth
A good definition should change the next action for the person reading it.
Partner or director
Check whether this term affects acceptance risk, fee scope, supervision exposure, or sign-off responsibility.
ContinueMLRO or compliance lead
Map the term to evidence, escalation, monitoring, training, and inspection readiness.
ContinueClient-facing team member
Use the plain-English explanation to ask better client questions and write clearer file notes.
ContinueOther terms that go with Source of wealth
Source of funds refers to the origin of the specific money or assets used in a particular transaction or to fund a business relationship — for example, the proceeds of a property sale, a business loan, or salary income. Establishing source of funds is a key EDD step where a transaction is large, unusual, or involves a higher-risk client.
A Politically Exposed Person is an individual who holds or has held a prominent public function — such as a head of state, senior government minister, senior civil servant, judge, military officer, or senior executive of a state-owned enterprise — and their close family members and known associates. PEPs carry elevated money laundering risk due to their access to public funds or political influence. Since the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (s.78) and the FCA's PS24/4 guidance, UK domestic PEPs are by default treated as lower risk than foreign PEPs unless other risk factors apply.
Enhanced Due Diligence is a more thorough level of client verification required when a relationship presents a higher risk of money laundering or terrorist financing. EDD steps typically include verifying the source of funds, establishing source of wealth, obtaining senior management approval before onboarding, and applying more frequent ongoing monitoring.
Before you treat Source of wealth as handled
- Confirm which regulation, policy, or internal procedure the term maps to.
- Document the decision or evidence trail in the client file, not only in email or chat.
- Escalate where the term indicates higher risk, sanctions exposure, PEP status, suspicion, or missing evidence.
- Keep the wording consistent across onboarding, review notes, training material, and inspection packs.
Put Source of wealth into practice with Certivus
Knowing the term is the first step. Certivus gives you the workflows — client intake, CDD, EDD, PEP and sanctions screening, audit-ready records — to apply it across every client.
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