Five Nordic banks mull KYC joint venture
KYC JV???
Five Nordic banks have put their thinking caps on over the possible creation of a regional know your customer (KYC) infrastructure.
DNB, Danske, Nordea, Svenska Handelsbanken and SEB are in a mulling mood and say their plan, in the initial phase, would service large and midsize Nordic corporates.
The banks intend to set up a joint venture (JV), called Nordic KYC Utility, with a focus on developing a common infrastructure.
The company will be owned and controlled by the founding banks, however, the plan is that it will also offer its services to third parties.
According to the quintet, compliance with requirements for processing customer data has become a critical component in fighting financial crime.
The five reckon that bank customers are struggling with time-consuming KYC information requirements, often including many banks and formats.
They also cite the usual stuff about “inefficient KYC processes” and “more regulations”.
The establishment and operational start of the JV is conditional upon approval of the European Commission under the EU Merger Regulation and the company is expected to be established during H2 2018.
As reported in February, the same five banks were also thinking about the establishment of a pan-Nordic payment infrastructure. Other names in that plan were OP Financial Group and Swedbank.
