SWIFT today announced that the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB), with regional membership of 45 financial institutions across 16 countries, endorses The Know Your Customer (KYC) Registry, a centralized repository that maintains a standardized set of information on correspondent banks’ requirements for KYC compliance.
Joanna Charles, Chairperson of the CAB, says, “In keeping with the CAB’s mandate of advocacy and the strengthening of the regional financial services sector, we strongly support SWIFT’s global initiative to reduce the cost and risk related to know your customer correspondent banking compliance. Our members actively exchange a range of information and documents with their counterparties in order to achieve effective due diligence standards and meet other regulatory requirements. The KYC Registry enables member banks to proactively share information with correspondent banks, increasing efficiency, reducing cost and allowing our region to demonstrate transparency and KYC compliance more effectively.”
The CAB includes: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago.
Banks contribute an agreed ‘baseline’ set of data and documentation for validation by SWIFT, which the contributors can then share with their counterparties. Each bank retains ownership of its own information, as well as control over which other institutions can view it. Banks are not charged for data contribution or for using the Registry to share their KYC information with other banks. To maximize the Registry’s benefits, data consumption is free in 2015 for banks that contribute their own KYC information to the Registry and promote it to their correspondents.
Bart Claeys, Head of KYC Compliance Services at SWIFT, says: “The KYC Registry is a key component of SWIFT’s commitment in helping our community comply with financial crime compliance regulations. We are very pleased with the level of participation from financial communities across the Americas. Adding the CAB to a growing list of Associations and Central Bank endorsers demonstrates the value of The KYC Registry in enabling financial inclusion across developing markets.”
Ed Adams, Managing Director Americas at SWIFT, adds: “Here in the Americas, we continue to see an emphasis on financial crime compliance in regional markets and are very pleased that the CAB endorses adoption of The KYC Registry as part of their important advocacy role in the Caribbean”.
Today, more than 1,315 financial institutions from across 168 countries are using The KYC Registry to facilitate compliance with a growing number of correspondent relationships worldwide. The KYC Registry is operated by SWIFT and was developed in collaboration with major global banks around the world, providing a simple, secure way to exchange a standardized set of information for correspondent banking Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, increasing efficiency and reducing risk.
To see the official release click here.