April 29, 2014 - Swift continues to build up its compliance unit through the launch of a business intelligence tool that lets banks comb through their own Swift traffic data in search of financial crime risks.

Through Compliance Analytics, banks get access to a single source of rich, standardised data, providing them with an overview of their Swift-based activity.

Clients can analyse their Swift traffic data to identify anomalies in behaviour, unusual patterns or trends in traffic flows, hidden relationships, and significant levels of activity in high-risk areas.

Not only will the tool enable banks to identify and assess areas of risk, validate existing processes, and attain a global view of their traffic, it will also help them to develop risk models, set alerts and benchmark themselves against their industry peers.

Swift has been making an aggressive move into the compliance arena, recently setting up a dedicated unit and outlining plans for a global KYC Registry, a centralised utility for the collection and distribution of standard information required by banks as part of their due diligence processes.

Last month the interbank messaging network acquired Omnicision, gaining the financial crime prevention services firm's sanctions testing product as well as experts focused on anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer.

Swift says that Compliance Analytics compliments the KYC Registry initiative as well as its sanctions screening and testing services.

Javier Pérez-Tasso, chief marketing officer, Swift, says: "The new tool fits nicely with Swift's existing Compliance Services portfolio and is another example of Swift's commitment to helping the industry cope with new requirements in the area of financial crime compliance."

Swift's investment in the compliance space is emphasised at the interbank network's Business Forum in London today, where financial crime and compliance tops the agenda at the day-long event.