Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), have launched a know-your-customer (KYC) exchange platform called MyKYCBank.
The sides described it as a powerful new tool to bring greater compliance and transparency to diamond transactions which provides a centralized platform for companies in the diamond industry to complete and manage more efficiently their KYC obligations in conformity with global standards. "Users can easily and quickly share their own KYC data among trade connections as well as banks and other financial intermediaries, providing the confidence that comes with open information sharing.
"As a result of the collaboration between the two authorized industry bodies AWDC and GJEPC, the MyKYCBank will encompass the members of the world’s largest diamond trade and manufacturing communities, Antwerp and India. The platform will become a powerful tool that can significantly reduce compliance costs for users, bring greater transparency to the industry and build confidence among other industry stakeholders, such as financial institutions and governments, said Pranay Narvekar CEO of MyKYCBank.
“The AWDC is very pleased to announce this partnership with the GJEPC as we seek to provide a seamless and transparent KYC process across the globe,” said CEO of AWDC Ari Epstein. “With increasingly strict compliance norms, banks are expected to do due diligence for transactions. With the MyKYCBank platform, we are promoting a network where all the KYC information is easily available, effectively lowering the compliance risks for banks and giving them greater confidence."
“MyKYCBank is one of GJEPC’s self-regulation initiatives to further enhance the level of transparency in the business. This will ensure updated KYC information to all trading partners, enabling them to fully meet the compliance standards for KYC as per the law,” said Pramod Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC.
The signing of the formal agreement by AWDC CEO Ari Epstein and Pranay Narvekar CEO of MyKYCBank took place on May 11 in Mumbai in the framework of India’s Banking Summit, “Diamond & Jewellery Financing 2018, Mitigating Risks Effectively”. The Summit, organized by GJEPC, was attended by India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu, and other leading officials.
