GMA News :
On the heels of the $81-million Bangladesh Bank heist, Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) on Thursday claimed its system wasn’t breached when the funds were transferred from New York to Manila.
Banks are ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of all transactions,
according to SWIFT, the messaging network system financial institutions use to send money transfer instructions.
“We have very strong certainty that our system has never been compromised. We are very sure that there is no breach at all in the network,” Alain Raes, SWIFT Chief Executive for Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa, told reporters at a briefing in Makati City on Thursday.
On February 4, SWIFT sent to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) an inward remittance code covering $81 million from the account of the Bangladesh Bank with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“The Fed said it followed normal procedures when responding to requests that appeared to be from Bangladesh Bank, which were made and authenticated over SWIFT,” Reuters reported earlier.
“We need to differentiate the responsibility of SWIFT and the responsibility of banks… It is clearly the responsibility of the bank in ensuring their part of the chain is bulletproof,” said Raes.
SWIFT is responsible for informing their clients of all the transactions, as well as the security measures it undertakes.
“It is our responsibility to making sure that everyone is informed in the reality of security,” the SWIFT official said.
“There are a certain number of investigations undertaken by local authorities in Bangladesh and it is really up to their responsibility in this investigation. We leave these to the authorities to continue the investigation,” he added
Asked if SWIFT will impose stricter measures after the Bangladesh Bank experience, Raes said, “We tend to treat every single transaction the same way. They’re all important to us. [We will have the] same principles of security.”
Despite the money laundering scandal, SWIFT expects transactions of Filipino banks to continue growing.
“There are 45,000 transactions (under the SWIFT system) going from the Filipino banks to the rest of the world, which yearly grows 15 percent. Asia is really becoming the fastest engine of growth of the company. In the coming years, (the Philippines is expected to be) one of the largest parts of the business,” he said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has ordered local banks to be more cautious and vigilant in processing foreign exchange transactions.
In a memorandum dated April 5, 2016, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said “… banks dealing with foreign exchange dealers, money changers and remittance agents should take extra cautious and vigilance and shall perform enhanced due diligence, upon onboarding and during transaction monitoring, consistent with regulations and the bank’s procedures as provided under its Money Laundering and Terrorist financing Prevention Program (MLPP).”
On the heels of the $81-million Bangladesh Bank heist, Brussels-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) on Thursday claimed its system wasn’t breached when the funds were transferred from New York to Manila.
Banks are ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of all transactions,
according to SWIFT, the messaging network system financial institutions use to send money transfer instructions.
“We have very strong certainty that our system has never been compromised. We are very sure that there is no breach at all in the network,” Alain Raes, SWIFT Chief Executive for Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa, told reporters at a briefing in Makati City on Thursday.
On February 4, SWIFT sent to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) an inward remittance code covering $81 million from the account of the Bangladesh Bank with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“The Fed said it followed normal procedures when responding to requests that appeared to be from Bangladesh Bank, which were made and authenticated over SWIFT,” Reuters reported earlier.
“We need to differentiate the responsibility of SWIFT and the responsibility of banks… It is clearly the responsibility of the bank in ensuring their part of the chain is bulletproof,” said Raes.
SWIFT is responsible for informing their clients of all the transactions, as well as the security measures it undertakes.
“It is our responsibility to making sure that everyone is informed in the reality of security,” the SWIFT official said.
“There are a certain number of investigations undertaken by local authorities in Bangladesh and it is really up to their responsibility in this investigation. We leave these to the authorities to continue the investigation,” he added
Asked if SWIFT will impose stricter measures after the Bangladesh Bank experience, Raes said, “We tend to treat every single transaction the same way. They’re all important to us. [We will have the] same principles of security.”
Despite the money laundering scandal, SWIFT expects transactions of Filipino banks to continue growing.
“There are 45,000 transactions (under the SWIFT system) going from the Filipino banks to the rest of the world, which yearly grows 15 percent. Asia is really becoming the fastest engine of growth of the company. In the coming years, (the Philippines is expected to be) one of the largest parts of the business,” he said.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has ordered local banks to be more cautious and vigilant in processing foreign exchange transactions.
In a memorandum dated April 5, 2016, BSP Deputy Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. said “… banks dealing with foreign exchange dealers, money changers and remittance agents should take extra cautious and vigilance and shall perform enhanced due diligence, upon onboarding and during transaction monitoring, consistent with regulations and the bank’s procedures as provided under its Money Laundering and Terrorist financing Prevention Program (MLPP).”
