Thomson Financial Publishing Signs Licensing Agreement With ALLTEL Information Services

Business Wire, June 18, 1997

SKOKIE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1997--Thomson Financial Publishing (TFP) announced that it has signed an agreement with ALLTEL, a leading information technology company headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, to jointly market TFP's FACFilter product. As the OFAC compliance solution for ALLTEL's financial services customers, FACFilter is integrated with ALLTEL'S mainframe customer information systems.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is the division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury which enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries and their agents, terrorism sponsoring organizations, and international narcotics traffickers based on U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives. Under the laws administered by OFAC, financial institutions, securities firms and insurance companies are obligated to block or "freeze" property and payment of any funds transfers or transactions. Depending on the program involved, OFAC has the authority to enforce civil penalties of up to $250,000 per incident as well as the forfeiture of funds or other property involved in the violation.

FACFilter provides financial institutions with an automated, cost-effective means of screening funds transfer transactions and customer files against TFP's enriched database of embargoed countries and Specially Designated Nationals. Utilizing the search algorithm recommended by the New York Clearing House, FACFilter allows financial institutions to maintain high transaction throughput and data integrity while minimizing the risk of fines and penalties.

"The ability for a bank to screen its customer files for potential OFAC violations is an essential part of any bank's compliance program," said Traci Rimerman, product manager.

"By joining forces with ALLTEL," remarked T. Emmett Dages, Executive Vice President of TFP's Products and Services group, "we now have the opportunity to provide integrated OFAC solutions to an even greater share of the marketplace."

FACFilter is available on a Windows-NT server, a mainframe using CICS/MVS, and an AS/400 system. FACFilter will continue to be marketed by TFP in the U.S.

TFP develops, markets and supports a full range of OFAC compliance products. The company's products are used by more than 400 customers in 11 countries on 4 continents. TFP's OFAC compliance solutions are endorsed by the American Bankers Association.

FACFilter is a registered trademark of Thomson Financial Publishing.

CONTACT: Thomson Financial Publishing

Traci Rimerman, 847/933-8004