Swift Opens KYC Registry Membership

Swift’s KYC Registry—launched in December 2014—holds a number of Know Your Customer (KYC) data and documents. Prior to opening membership to the registry, 4,000 member banks and funds used it to gather information on counterparties as part of their due diligence obligations.

Luc Meurant, head of Financial Crime Compliance Services at Swift, said extending membership to the registry means the community will get a more robust repository of information.

“Extending KYC Registry membership to all eligible supervised financial institutions means that current members will profit from even broader coverage of their correspondent banking and finds distribution networks, allowing them to further consolidate and streamline their customer due diligence activities,” Meurant said. “Smaller institutions will benefit from industry-agreed standards and best practices in KYC compliance.”

Expanded membership also allows the registry to position itself as the KYC utility of choice, Meurant added.

KYC utilities like Swift’s help streamline the KYC process for financial institutions as these hold important data about potential counterparties. Participants contribute and access KYC information. Swift said members to its registry retains ownership of its data and can control which counterparties can access its documents.