(11 March 2021 – Global) SWIFT has integrated the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) sustainable trade finance guidelines into its KYC registry, making it easier for financial institutions to identify environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in their supply chains.
Previously, corporates with multiple banking partners had to provide ESG information in differing formats through bilateral exchanges, which is costly, time-consuming and inefficient. This initiative allows corporates to complete and update a single form that they can then share with their banking partners.
More than 6,000 users are publishing their KYC data and receive information from their correspondents through SWIFT’s KYC Registry, which was established in 2014
Importantly, the Registry does not provide financial institutions with a judgement on whether a company’s activities are sustainable – there remains no standardised definition of what does or does not constitute sustainable trade.
“Never before have environmental and sustainability practices had a more significant bearing on the financial decisions made by consumers, investors, corporates and financial institutions alike,” said SWIFT head of data and analytics products strategy Bart Claeys. “This has led to a huge increase in demand for ESG due diligence which has, due to a lack of standardisation, been difficult to provide.”