Swift opened its KYC registry to corporate groups on Monday, allowing them to manage and share KYC data with banking partners across the world.
The initiative follows other similar products launched by KYC.com, Refinitiv and Bloomberg.
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Bart Claeys, |
Swift is confident their registry will thrive, given the success it has had with correspondent banking partners, says Bart Claeys, head of KYC and reference data at Swift.
“At Swift, we have the ability to define and set standards, and given that we are not a commercial venture but one built on cooperation, we have a level of trust with our corporate and banking partners that other commercial ventures may not have been able to achieve,” he says.
“KYC as a function is not new. All institutions have policies and procedures to implement this, and it takes time for institutions to evaluate and feel comfortable with a registry such as ours and integrate it into their on-boarding or client review processes.”
Banks came on board when it became apparent that there was no commercial benefit to fighting fraud and compliance alone – working together was key - Bart Claeys, Swift
Alex Tame, global head of partners and content integration at Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, agrees, saying: “There is a reputational benefit to being part of the Swift registry and the risk for corporates getting involved in an established and proven product is much lower than something starting from scratch.