The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD’s) Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) says it is collaborating with the International Compliance Association (ICA) to raise compliance standards of local banks in countries across the bank’s focus region.

The innovative partnership of an international financial institution and the largest professional association of compliance specialists will jointly fund training on trade-based compliance issues, including money laundering.

The bank says that the collaboration will transform the way it delivers technical assistance, the non-financial support it provides mainly to banks in member countries such as skills training, knowledge or skills transfers and consulting services.

Trade-based compliance

The collaboration features the launch of a new training programme in trade-based compliance issues, completion of which will see trainees awarded internationally- recognised qualifications issued by the ICA.

The training programme will be offered to 120 partner banks, according to EBRD

Scholarship programme

The ICA and the EBRD will also be jointly funding scholarships for two qualifications that will be offered to EBRD partner banks: the ICA Certificate in Know Your Customer (KYC)/Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and the ICA Specialist Certificate in Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML).

These courses will also be offered to central banks in selected countries where the EBRD invests. The new qualifications are designed to achieve educational excellence in the areas of KYC/CDD and TBML.