Source of wealth (SoW) is the origin of a person's overall accumulated wealth — distinct from source of funds, which is the origin of a specific sum — and is a core element of enhanced due diligence and anti-money-laundering checks.
When a regulated firm — a bank, law firm, property agent or fiduciary — takes on a client with significant wealth, it must understand not just where the money for a specific transaction comes from, but how that person came to be wealthy at all. Source of wealth addresses that broader question: was wealth accumulated through business, inheritance, a property portfolio, a professional career, or some combination? The distinction matters because a plausible source of funds can mask wealth that was itself generated through illicit means.
For politically exposed persons and their close associates, the SoW question becomes more demanding. Public-sector salaries rarely explain significant private wealth. Investigators are asked to reconcile declared assets and lifestyle with verifiable income history — a task that requires access to corporate registries, property records, court filings, and open-source intelligence across multiple jurisdictions.
In standard know-your-customer (KYC) procedures, source of funds may be sufficient. But enhanced due diligence (EDD) requires a credible SoW narrative that can be substantiated — not merely stated by the client. Where the client's biography spans jurisdictions with limited public records, or where nominee structures obscure ownership, independent investigation is often the only route to a defensible answer.
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