Secure financial messaging services provider, SWIFT, has announced a new offering in its know-your-customer (KYC) suite of products.

The new KYC Adverse Media news service integrates with SWIFT’s KYC Registry, the centralised repository that maintains a standardised set of information about financial institutions required for KYC compliance.

Correspondent banks

SWIFT will now make Dow Jones Risk & Compliance data available to the more than 2,500 correspondent banks and funds players that are already using the KYC Registry as part of their compliance programmes.

SWIFT says financial institutions are increasingly being expected by regulators to use ‘negative news’ coverage as part of a risk-based approach to customer due diligence for financial crime compliance.

The KYC Adverse Media service, which is made available by SWIFT in partnership with Dow Jones, provides access to this type of curated content from more than 32,000 news publications worldwide, as well as regulatory notifications.

Integrated service

The new service complements banks’ self-reported, SWIFT-verified KYC data and documents with news content dating back to 2012.

Articles are linked directly to the relevant legal entities in the KYC Registry, enabling users to view at a glance what news coverage, if any, is available for each registry member.