John Dobson

John Dobson is the CEO of SmartSearch, a leading UK provider of anti-money-laundering software. John has been with the company for 10 years and 10 months, and has held the title of NED, CEO, and Chief Executive. Prior to their current position, they were with SmartCredit for 12 years.

SmartSearch's anti-money-laundering verification platform conducts individual and business searches, both for the UK and international markets with automatic worldwide sanction and PEP screening. It is the only organisation in the UK with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the UK and internationally all in a single platform via a browser or API, with full Sanction, PEP and adverse media screening, and then ongoing monitoring.

Headquartered in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, SmartSearch’s very latest technology delivers an unrivalled user experience to over 4,500 client firms and 40,000 users, enabling them to comply with the latest AML regulations and fulfil their AML, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance obligations.

With no requirement for clients to provide identity documents, SmartSearch’s automated verification approach is significantly more convenient for both users and their end customers, with individual AML checks taking two seconds from start to finish, while business checks take less than three minutes.

John Dobson has a "University of Life" degree with distinction from successful and profitable businesses operation. John also has an ONC / HND in building technology from Leeds College of Building and a degree in education from Pennington Lane School.