Why Does KYC Matter to Corporate Treasurers?

by Steve Pulley, Managing Director, Client On-boarding and KYC Solutions, Thomson Reuters

Banks’ ever-increasing KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements are hindering the operational efficiency of corporate treasury departments. Steve Pulley, Managing Director of Thomson Reuters Org ID KYC managed service, explores some innovative solutions to the problem.

Customer-centric banking?  Not from this perspective.

In the past, only basic KYC checks were performed on new banking clients.  Requests were fairly predictable in nature and adding services to an existing account generally didn’t involve additional KYC requests. The globalisation of banking, the events of 9/11 and the financial crisis of 2008, however, have changed all this.

These events have led to increased regulations and rigorous enforcement by regulators.  Banks are understandably tightening up on KYC due diligence in the face of hefty fines for non-compliance and, most importantly, the threat of reputational damage, even if it’s at the expense of the client relationship.  KYC checks performed on clients are now extensive, with additional checks for additional services.  The list of document requests is increasing exponentially.  Moreover, requests vary by bank and by geography and because there is no ‘standard’, it is difficult to predict exactly what information will be required.  Facilitating these different requests slows an already time-consuming process. 

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