Our story: why we built Semak AML

Why we started

“Semak” is Malay for “check”, and checking is what this is about. In Malaysia, anti-money laundering rules do not only apply to banks. Company secretaries, accountants, lawyers, real estate agents and dealers in precious metals can be reporting institutions too. When they take on a new customer, screening that customer’s name is usually part of their customer due diligence.

Many of these firms are small and medium-sized enterprises. A small practice may take on only a few new customers a month, and the screening tools on the market can cost more than a small firm can afford for the number of names it screens.

We started Semak AML in July 2026 to make name screening affordable for these firms. It does one job: you enter a name, review the potential matches returned from our screening database, record your decision and download a dated PDF report. It costs RM1 per name search, with tokens bought in advance, so a firm that screens a few names a month pays for a few searches.

What a firm gets

The basics are simple, but a screening tool has to fit how a small firm actually works. Your staff can screen one name at a time or upload a spreadsheet to screen a whole list. The form asks for the right details for an individual or a company, so people with similar names are easier to tell apart. Your firm’s admins add and remove their own staff, and each review is recorded under the name of the person who made it.

When a review is finished, the PDF report becomes the dated record for the customer file, and the screening record behind it is locked. Your admins can also download your screening history and activity log as CSV files when your auditors ask for them.

How we build it

Semak AML is built with the help of Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding tool. We set the scope and the rules, review every change and test it before release. Decisions that affect your firm, such as the wording on reports or how tokens are returned when a search fails, are ours to make, not the tool’s.

One rule sits above the others: Semak AML never makes the match decision for you. It shows the potential matches, and your staff decide.

How we keep it safe

Name screening involves personal data about your customers, so security is a large part of the work. Your staff sign in with a password and a one-time code sent by email. Each firm’s data is kept separate from every other firm’s. A screening record is locked once its report is created, and an activity log records key actions in a way that cannot be edited. Card details are handled by our payment provider, and our emails do not include the names you screen. The details are on our security page.

Plain about what it is

Semak AML shows potential matches. Your staff review them, record their decision and download a dated PDF report. It is not a compliance determination or a legal opinion, and your firm remains responsible for its own AML/CFT decisions and records.

We keep this website simple too: no cookies, no analytics or tracking, and no forms.

Getting started

Semak AML is in early access, and new firms start with 10 free searches. If you run a company secretarial, accounting, legal, real estate or precious metals business in Malaysia, email us at hello@semakaml.com. Tell us about your firm and roughly how many names you screen each month.