Nepalese banks opt for SWIFT screening service

Ten Nepal-based bank have signed up to use SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening service to underpin their sanctions compliance. The banks join a group 600 strong, built up since the service’s launch in 2012 as the first of SWIFT’s financial crime compliance portfolio.

Sanctions Screening is a hosted utility service that screens financial transactions in real time, according to SWIFT. It holds information up against “more than 30 up-to-date lists of sanctioned individuals and entities from all the major regulatory bodies, including OFAC, the United Nations, and the European Union.”

The service is aimed at small and mid-sized financial institutions as well as corporations and payments businesses.

“SWIFT is a valued and trusted partner in our sanctions compliance efforts,” says Ashoke SJB Rana, Chief Executive Officer of Himalayan Bank Limited, one of the banks to sign up. “Using Sanctions Screening helps us focus on core parts of our business while actively ensuring we are meeting our sanctions compliance obligations, reducing manpower and costs.”

[do_widget id=text-34]