Central Bank of Angola Adopts SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening System

The Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA), Angola’s central bank, and five other banks in the country have adopted SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening, a cloud-based payment that filters messages in real time and checks clients’ selected sanctions list.  These banks have done so in a bid to make sure that Angola, which is Africa’s second biggest oil producer, achieves the highest principles and complies with the best global rules in its financial community.

Dr Ricardo D`Abreu, Vice Governor at BNA, admitted that financial crime has been on the increase internationally, threatening the world’s financial sector.  “Banco Nacional de Angola is the fourth central bank in the Africa South region to subscribe to SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening service, which makes it clear that the service is suitable for commercial and central banks alike,” Hugo Smit, the head of Africa South at SWIFT said in a statement.

SWIFT allows its users to exchange automated, standardized financial information securely, reliably and cheaply.  Smit concluded, “Sanctions compliance is complex and costly, and the penalties for non-compliance can be severe.”

Source: Ventures Africa