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Banking Groups Call for Better Transparency in Payment Messages

By Selina Román

Two banking industry organizations are calling for better transparency in the global payments messaging system used for international wire transfers. The Wolfsberg Group, an association of 12 of the world's largest banks, and the Clearing House Association on Thursday called for banking cooperative Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommuncation (SWIFT) to change the payment instructions it handles to "promote the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing programs." The proposal would standardize the contents of payment instructions sent by SWIFT to originator and beneficiary institutions when conducting third-party cover payments. Cover payments are used in international funds transfers when...

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