After launching its KYC registry in January, Swift has now signed a number of major banks up to the tool.

The interbank messaging network has recruited Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered, Citi, JP Morgan and Commerzbank onto its registry, which provides a centralised repository for information, accessible by banks that must complete KYC due diligence.

Luc Meurant, head of banking markets and compliance services at Swift, tells GTR that the support of the banking community around the initiative is “very important” and that “the data and quality is of course crucial in terms of helping banks meet their KYC compliance requirements”.

Swift expects further banks to join the registry in the coming months, drawn by the access to data, as well as the ability to reduce costs by managing all documentary exchanges between counterparties centrally.

“So far, we’ve had a really good response from the banking community about this initiative. The feedback has been positive and the banks we are speaking to genuinely like the collaborative approach, which in our opinion is the only way to tackle this industry-wide challenge, critical mass is obviously key. We are in close contact with a number of other banks on this topic and are off to great start with the six that have already started working with us,” says Meurant.

The banks will join in Swift-led working groups to finalise the processes of the registry and the documentation necessary to fulfil KYC requirements across multiple jurisdictions. They will also add their own data to the registry.
Udo Braun, of the Commerzbank’s executive board for compliance, says: “Commerzbank is very pleased to take part in the KYC registry initiative. We are convinced that it will help our industry work more efficiently and effectively to support compliance with KYC requirements.”

You can find GTR’s original report on Swift’s KYC registry here.