Basel releases guidance on wire-transfer messages

Due diligence for anti-money laundering and terrorist financing from the Basel Committee

BASEL - The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published supervisory guidance on cover payment messages for cross-border wire transactions, in support of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing efforts.

The Basel Committee says the paper, entitled 'Due diligence and transparency regarding cover payment messages related to cross-border wire transfers', is part of its long-standing commitment to regulatory guidance against financial crime.

Processing cross-border wire transfers can involve several financial institutions, so the guidance is designed for situations in which one or more intermediary banks are not located in either the jurisdiction of the originating bank or that of the beneficiary.

The guidance focuses on information required in messages related to cover payments, the mechanisms that must be used to ensure that complete and accurate information has been included, and how the bank should use the information for counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering purposes.

The paper was informed by comments received after a 2008 draft paper open to consultation.

The paper may be read here.

http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs154.pdf?noframes=1