China Systems and Accuity partner on trade finance and supply chain solution as 8/10 firms cite compliance and regulatory issues a “chief” obstacle to trade finance”

  • Trade Finance , Compliance , Regulatory Standards
  • 12.10.2015 01:00 am

 Accuity, the leading global provider of Payments, KYC, Risk and Compliance solutions has partnered with China Systems, the leading trade finance solutions vendor, integrating Accuity’s Compliance Link solution with China Systems’Eximbills Trade Processing Platform to create  a SWIFT certified Trade and Supply Chain Finance product providing seamless compliance checks for trade finance transactions.

Financial institutions face growing pressure to comply with changing and stringent compliance regulation - 80% of firms surveyed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 2015 cited compliance requirements as a significant impediment to trade finance, up from 69% last year, with 93% of respondents predicting that compliance requirements will continue to rise.

The ICC report also highlighted the lower rate of acceptance by banks for trade financing from SMEs, driven primarily by the ‘derisking’ strategy undertaken by banks in higher risk jurisdictions due to compliance and regulatory concerns.  Specifically only 53% of SMEs’ trade finance applications were accepted by banks versus 79% for large corporations.  The challenge is that 93% of firms in the Asia Pacific Economic Council region are SMEs, making it an even greater challenge for SMEs in the region.

As money launderers increasingly seek to exploit the complexity of trade finance transactions to obscure the illegal movement of funds, and integrate them into the formal economy, it is crucial that firms have an effective system in order to detect and mitigate these financial and reputational risks.

Launched at Sibos, the leading global trade, payments, and securities conference, Accuity and China Systems have created a product that offers robust and comprehensive compliance checks, transaction management and audit trail functions, available in real time – effectively making compliance part of the process rather than an interruption to it.

“Money-laundering through trade finance channels is a clear and present threat to global businesses,” said Henry Balani, Head of Innovation, Accuity. “By partnering with China Systems we are giving compliance professionals in financial institutions the tools to help mitigate the risks posed by this on their day-to-day activities, helping them to prioritise and achieve business continuity.”

“Our solution is designed to protect financial institutions against financial and reputational risks and allow them to focus on the provision of financial services to their customers with maximum efficiency while minimizing distraction and delays. Accuity’s Compliance Link is a highly regarded compliance tool and provided us with the screening efficiencies we needed when we developed our offering,” added Joel Schrevens Global Solutions Director, China Systems.

Accuity’s Compliance Link solution will manage the case management and screening of each transaction, while China Systems’ Eximbills platform will record the results of each decision taken, controlling the transaction workflow and providing full visibility on each decision and subsequent actions.

Key features of the integrated product include:

·         Ability to run compliance checks against a multitude of global watch lists on people, companies, organisations, countries, cities, airports, seaports, dual-use and controlled goods, shipping and vessel information and sanctioned SWIFT BICs.

·         Full audit trail of all compliance activities and decisions, starting from its initial detection from a possible hit, to its confirmation as an error, a “false positive” or a true match.

·         Ability to cancel or continue with the transaction process.

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