The Panama Banking Association has endorsed SWIFT’s Know-Your-Client (KYC) Registry. The association has membership of 71 banks, including domestic and international institutions.
The KYC Registry is a centralised repository that maintains a standardised set of information for KYC compliance. Participating banks contribute a ‘baseline’ set of data which is validated by SWIFT and shared with other counterparties.
Banks retain ownership over their information, and control over who can view it, and they are not charged for contribution.
More than 1,500 financial solutions in 179 countries now use the registry to help comply with KYC regulations.
Mario de Diego, executive vice-president at Panama Banking Association, said: “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.”
Jairo Namur, head of Latin America at SWIFT, added: “In a landscape where collaborative approaches are gaining momentum, SWIFT is pleased to help the Panama Banking Association to address the increasing financial crime compliance requirements and welcome them to the growing community of users leveraging SWIFT services to support an effective and efficient implementation of their financial crime compliance processes.”
