TFP and Exiger tackle correspondent banking in Ukraine

The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) has developed a capacity-building agenda in trade finance to promote international standards in financial crime prevention, trade-based anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer and Customer Due Diligence in trade finance.

In recent years the EBRD’s partner banks have lost a great number of correspondent banking relationships, which hinders international trade in the EBRD regions. Smaller banks are particularly dependent on such relationships to be able to offer payment and clearing services in foreign currencies.

As part of the EBRD’s compliance capacity building in trade finance, the TFP engaged Exiger, a global leader in technology-enabled financial crime, risk and compliance solutions for financial institutions and regulators worldwide, to deliver a one-day workshop in Kyiv, Ukraine in September 2019.

The workshop was jointly organised with Exiger and National Bank of Ukraine, with over 80 participants from banks in Ukraine, including the EBRD’s partner banks. Exiger’s Jason Holt, EMEA Regional Leader and Managing Director, and Avigyan Das, Director, eDiscovery, facilitated the workshop discussion.

The workshop helped the participants to gain a good understanding of trade finance and its associated financial crime risks. It also provided them with tools to more effectively implement procedures that help maintain and establish correspondent banking relationships – benefiting the trade activities of their clients.

The collaboration between the two organisations will make it possible for EBRD partner banks to train their staff to the standards of leading international banks, minimise the costs of compliance and continue to stimulate trade finance transactions in the EBRD’s regions.