News by sections
ESG

News by region
Issue archives
Archive section
Multimedia
Videos
Search site
Features
Interviews
Country profiles
Generic business image for news article Image: Shutterstock

27 August 2015
São Paulo
Reporter Stephanie Palmer

Share this article





South American support for SWIFT’s KYC Register

Corporate investment bank Itaú BBA has joined SWIFT’s KYC registry and its Sanctions Screening Service.

The Know-Your-Customer (KYC) Registry is a centralised repository holding a standardised set of information required for KYC compliance. Banks submit a standardised set of data and documentation for validation, and all contributors can share their information with counterparts.

Banks retain full ownership of their information, and can control which other institutions can view it. They are not charged for contribution, and data consumption is free of charge in 2015 for those banks that also contribute.

The registry now includes entities from more than 145 countries.

Bart Claeys, head of KYC compliance services at SWIFT, said: “The KYC Registry is a key initiative behind SWIFT’s commitment to help its community comply with financial crime compliance regulations. We are very pleased with the level of participation in the registry, both from large global and regional banks as well as financial communities.”

Alvaro Pimentel, executive director of operations at Itaú BBA, said: “In an effort to prevent financial crime, we promote the use of systematic analysis of the information coming from those financial institutions with which we conduct our operations."

He added: "SWIFT’s KYC Registry will connect us in real time with these institutions enabling the exchange of a large volume of data, thus enhancing the operations’ security and the prevention of financial crime, such as money laundering and tax evasion.”

Itaú will also adopt SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening service, a community-based solution allowing financial institutions to messages against various sanctions lists.

Transactions are screened against at least 30 lists, including those from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, the UK’s HM Treasury, the European Union and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Lists are updated at no additional charge, in a bid to reduce costs and risks for customers. The service is now used by more than 370 financial institutions and more than 100 countries.

Christina Hutchinson, head of SWIFT in Brazil, said: "SWIFT is pleased to help Itaú BBA address the increasing financial crime compliance requirements and welcomes them to the growing community of users leveraging SWIFT services to support an effective and efficient implementation of their financial crime compliance processes."

Advertisement
Get in touch
News
More sections
Black Knight Media