SWIFT Extends Sanctions Screening Service
SWIFT is extending its sanctions screening service to support all messages used in financial transactions, regardless of format or financial network.
The financial messaging services provider said that users can now screen all transaction formats, including the single euro payments area (SEPA) and Fedwire, and transactions sent over networks other than SWIFT. The extended service also enables greater flexibility and back-office integration, addressing the needs of mid-sized banks and other users that have more complex business and operational requirements.
SWIFT added that it had developed sanctions screening for institutions that value a hosted solution to support real-time message screening against international sanctions lists. The service “combines a highly sophisticated screening engine and sanctions list management with SWIFT’s security, reliability and resilience.”
Transactions can be screened against more than 30 of the most important sanctions lists, including lists from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, (OFAC), the UK’s HM Treasury, the European Union (EU), and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). SWIFT performs sanctions list updates at no additional charge, eliminating a major source of cost and risk for customers.
“In today’s world, banks need to strengthen their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism [AML/CFT] systems with automated and real-time tools that enable effective controls,” said Ramiro Uribe Aleman, chief compliance officer of Banco Economico, Bolivia.
“We chose sanctions screening from SWIFT to use as part of our process for sending and receiving electronic wire transfers. We are confident that this application provided by SWIFT will be a great contribution to effective sanctions compliance.”
SWIFT introduced sanctions screening in 2012 as the first offering in its financial crime compliance portfolio. Nearly 300 institutions in 97 countries have subscribed to the service, including 15 central banks.
Further information about sanctions screening is available at www.swift.com/sanctionsscreening. Recent articles published by
gtnews
on watchdogs and regulation can be accessed
here
.