Your Consulting Partner
With our tailored KYC and Introduction
services we can assist clients on both sides
of the banking relationship
One third of the globe is affected by the de-risking trend in correspondent banking. Smaller banks and clients in developing economies often struggle to create new correspondent relationships.
Increased costs for compliance and tremendous fines from government regulators have shaped the correspondent banking ecosystem more than any other trend in the past 30 years and lead to a reduction of the overall number of correspondent banking relationships globally. It is an irrevocable trend which requires additional resources from respondent banks who wish to enter into a new correspondent banking relationship. They need to be able to persuade the correspondent bank about their reliability and their soundness in compliance and risk management.
Creating new correspondent banking relationships requires significant resources whilst the need to evidence reliability and soundness in compliance and risk management of the respondent bank is greater than ever.
KYC Insights and Reporting
Financial institutions spend an average of $150M a year on Know Your Customer (KYC)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD) operations, yet many struggle with inefficient and ineffective delivery centres while non-compliance fines are on the rise. BFI aims to set an example for economic inclusion.
BFI helps Correspondent Banks to meet their obligations for ongoing customer due diligence by providing independent, third party verification of respondent bank’s customer data including a desktop research and detailed site visits to the headquarter of each respondent bank.
Gathering extensive information needed for effective due diligence is a complex and time consuming task, especially where the business relationship involves other countries or where relevant information is in a language not easily understood.
BFI’s KYC services focus not only on the financial institution , its beneficial owners and its operating history but also on key management and decision makers, providing insight on their backgrounds, track records, competencies, potential conflicts of interest and political and criminal links. Business conduct and reputation history are analysed and a thorough search is made for hidden liabilities. Site visits complete the big picture view and enable a sound impression of the respondent bank.
For Respondent Banks, BFI’s specialist resources prepare client information that meets today’s stringent regulatory standards whilst being tailored to the requirements of each correspondent bank. This helps to connect especially emerging market domiciled banks to international banking services across all major economies and currencies. Our services also cover training on KYC/AML regulations, insight into due diligence requirements of correspondent banks and support with technical solutions.
BFI has an excellent understanding of enhanced due diligence and through reasonable investigations and onsite visits to the respondent bank’s main domicile is allowing the correspondent bank to make a well-informed decision about the envisaged correspondent relationship.
We Ensure Quality
BFI work exclusively in line with the international regulations and the legislation of client’s domicile
BFI have the thoroughly developed internal procedures, based on the best practices
BFI employ a highly experienced and qualified personnel to provide the best services to its clients
BFI pay the significant attention to data protection and security
BFI get inside the metrics with very close attention to the details
BFI perform the overview of all processes which take place in the company and sets standards
BFI perform micro-gap analysis and fills the gaps
With 10,000+ banks in our database and growing, BFI covers around 40% of the global banking universe across 100+ countries. We are determined to achieve a global coverage by 2021.
The cooperation with an account seeking financial institution starts with the profound documentation of their business and corporate documents, to make sure they meet a banks’ application requirements. We then prepare a long list of suitable correspondent banks which we turn with the client into a short list.
Introduction Services
Market Research
Based on our industry knowledge and insights, we offer macro and micro research about markets, products, prices and and competitors. Our topics range from correspondent banking to country risks, payment systems and market players. We provide industry trends, regional overviews and sales opportunity forecasts, that help existing and new market participants to enhance their decision quality.
According to your requirements, we create a research framework with clear objectives, milestones, timeframes, costs and reporting format.
BFI empowers its customers to obtain valuable data to make strategically successful decisions about what matters to them most, so they can recognise strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in a timely manner and to take advantage of upcoming trends in the financial industry.