Fortent Gets Funding

NEW YORK -- Fortent, a company created specifically to deliver a comprehensive suite of risk and compliance solutions to financial institutions worldwide, was launched today. Warburg Pincus, the global private equity firm, provided a significant equity commitment to the new enterprise. In a marketplace characterized by fragmented offerings from a multitude of suppliers, the new company satisfies the accelerating demand for a total risk-compliance solution.

Fortent combines Searchspace, a leading anti-money laundering solution, and Semagix, a pioneering Know Your Customer and Enhanced Due Diligence product, into a single, powerful brand. This new combination, for the first time, sets a global standard for risk and compliance services.

In the wake of 9/11 and other terrorist activity around the globe, regulators have increased the pressure on financial institutions to stem the flow of money laundering and address the estimated $500 billion to $1 trillion of “dirty money” slipping through the world’s financial markets each year. With this stepped up law enforcement and the broad new requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act and Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are in a rapidly changing, often confusing regulatory environment which exposes them to reputational, operational, and financial risks, as well as potential criminal charges.

Warburg Pincus

“The combination of Searchspace and Semagix is an unbeatable one-two punch in the risk and compliance area, and what is exciting is that this is only the beginning,” said Sandy Jaffee, CEO of Fortent. Ms. Jaffee joined Fortent from Warburg Pincus where, as Entrepreneur-in-Residence, she was part of the team that acquired Searchspace and Semagix. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, she served as President and CEO of Citibank’s Global Securities Services.