As anti-money laundering (AML) regulation continues to grow, the cost of conducting KYC checks on new counterparties and dealing with remediation remains a major factor facing banks, according to new findings released today by Bankersalmanac.com.
In a survey aimed at people working within the financial services sector, a quarter of respondents confirmed that it takes them a month or more to collect KYC (Know Your Customer) data from other banks. Whilst a third stated that the cost of conducting checks on an individual counterparty is over US $100.
Outside of banks, brokers and dealers were identified as the hardest institutions to obtain KYC data and documentation from, followed by asset managers and securities companies.
In relation to the impact on different territories, the Middle East, Africa & Asia-Pacific were identified by participants in the Bankersalmanac.com survey as the most problematic territories to obtain essential KYC information.
Commenting on the findings, Kerry Hewson, Director at Bankersalmanac.com, said: "Our survey findings highlight that the cost and time spent conducting KYC checks on counterparties continues to be an overhead for banks. Bankersalmanac.com’s Due Diligence Repository, created in association with the Wolfsberg Group, contains the primary information required by banks to conduct these due diligence checks on their bank counterparties, helping them to improve productivity and efficiency, and dedicate precious internal resources to other business processes.
"We have worked with the Wolfsberg Group to launch a collection of Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Due Diligence Repository to provide information about the methodology, processes and benefits of using the Repository."
Bankersalmanac.com is the leading source of intelligent reference data for payments, compliance and risk assessment. Clients include 83 per cent of the world’s top 500 banks, together with other leading global financial institutions and corporates. The counterparty survey was conducted amongst Bankersalmanac.com clients.
For more information please visit www.bankersalmanac.com.
Members of the Wolfsberg Group will be joining Bankersalmanac.com at Sibos in Boston to host an open theatre session on 3 October outlining their joint industry initiative. The session will be held at 11.45am on the Sibos exhibition floor and will provide an analysis of current regulatory issues, the impact of these on Correspondent Banking, including further results from the Bankers’ Almanac research.
To attend the open theatre session or meet Bankersalmanac.com at SIBOS please contact: marketing@bankersalmanac.com
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About Bankersalmanac.com
Bankersalmanac.com is the leading source of intelligent reference data for payments, compliance and risk assessment. For over 160 years it has been a single point of reference for global banking information.
Bankersalmanac.com is proud to partner some of the most influential financial associations and continues to evolve its reference data solutions to meet the needs of the industry. With offices in Europe, Asia and USA, Bankersalmanac.com is in continuous contact with banks and regulatory authorities to provide up-to-date, verified data that can be consistently relied upon.
All press enquiries to:
Louise Greeves/Vicki Hughes
Midnight Communications
Tel: 01273 666200
Email: bankersalmanac@midnight.co.uk
