New York, 9 December 2015 - Since its launch in December 2014, The KYC Registry has been adopted by more than 100 financial institutions in Latin America to complement existing compliance programs. In several jurisdictions across the region, the Registry has been endorsed by either a Central Bank or financial communities, including the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica and Bolivia.
The KYC Registry, a centralized repository that maintains a standardised set of information on correspondent banks' requirements for KYC compliance, is now being used by domestic and international banks in every single country within the Latin American region.
Jorge Osvaldo Lopez, Deputy Director of Compliance for Mexico's Grupo Financiero Banorte says "SWIFT's innovation and efficiency has helped us implement a reliable and robust compliance program. The KYC Registry has enabled us to better mitigate risks within our institution. SWIFT's services have provided us with safe and comprehensive approach to better financial crime compliance."
Jaime Murillo, President of Costa Rica's Bank Association Compliance Committee, adds "Costa Rica's Bank Association deems SWIFT's KYC Registry as a critical enabler to help Costa Rica's banks join an important global network and thus become part of the international efforts to mitigate risks related to financial crime."
Mario de Diego, Executive Vice-President at Panama's Bank Association, says, "The endorsement of SWIFT's KYC Registry by the Panama Banking Association is a clear illustration of the association's steadfast commitment to collaborate with the international community to prevent financial crime and to attain financial inclusion. The PBA looks forward to effectively having all its member banks on The KYC Registry."
Alvaro Alvarez Monasterios, President of Bolivia's Private Bank Compliance Commission, adds "SWIFT's efforts in creating and enlisting the financial community into The KYC Regisrty are instrumental to the global fight against money laundering and financial crime. The Registry's value in mitigating financial crime risks is unrivalled."
Jairo Namur, Head of Latin America at SWIFT, adds: "In a landscape where collaborative approaches are gaining momentum, SWIFT is pleased to help address the region's increasing requirements for financial crime compliance. We welcome all institutions with Latin America operations to join the growing community of KYC Registry users utilizing SWIFT services to support an effective and efficient implementation of their financial crime compliance processes."
Today, nearly 2,000 financial institutions in 191 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.
In 2015, SWIFT's KYC Registry was named "Project of the Year" and "Compliance Project of the Year" by publication The Banker, underscoring the industry's recognition and support of the Registry.
Source: www.swift.com