Barclays KYC Protecting-You

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Protecting you: our Know Your Customer

approach explained

What part does KYC play in preventing Financial Crime? The threat of Financial Crime is a very real and present danger to our communities,
When you initially approach us to open an account we will ask you to provide specific for example, it is estimated that globally:
documentation to enable us to identify, verify and maintain records regarding your business’
structure, as well as the key personnel who control and own it – this is known as KYC or ‘Know • The amount of money laundered each year by criminals is over £1 trillion which
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Your Customer’. As part of this process we will also want to understand specific details about equates to 5% of world GDP
the type of business your company transacts in and with whom i.e. your trading partners and • Over £650 billion is paid in bribes each year2
the countries you trade in. It’s how we develop a good understanding of your business which • Corruption adds up to 10% to the cost of doing business2
helps us to build our relationship in the right way.
Governments around the globe have charged all banking institutions with the responsibility
Why KYC forms part of our ongoing relationship for driving down Financial Crime, and through our KYC processes we can help prevent
As your business grows and structures and trading patterns change, we will reassess the criminals from accessing and utilising your accounts in the pursuit of unlawful gain.
information you have provided to us and ask for your help in updating it where necessary
– this will usually happen annually. Where possible we will aim to source as much information Barclays takes its KYC responsibilities seriously
as we can from data sources in the public domain but there will be certain information which The implications of Financial Crime, or the failure to prevent it, can be severe for both
we will need to ask you to provide. This information is required to ensure we are able to Barclays and our clients.
provide you with the right products and services to suit your business needs.
At Barclays we take Financial Crime prevention very seriously. Mitigating the associated
How Financial Crime happens and how it could affect you risks is a key priority for us – it is our regulatory responsibility which is why we have policies
Financial Crime either has money as its objective (e.g. money laundering) or needs money in place to mitigate the risk of Financial Crime, namely: Anti Money Laundering, Sanctions,
to achieve its objective (e.g. terrorist financing). To succeed, these monies need to flow Anti Bribery & Corruption as well as Introducer Policies.
through a banking institution, such as Barclays, meaning that our clients can be a target.
If you would like further information on financial regulation please refer to the following websites:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil/financial-crime/applying-legislation/index_en.htm
https://www.home.barclays/content/dam/barclayspublic/docs/Utilities/aml-policy-statement.pdf
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United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime website – February 2016.
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World Bank website – February 2016
Barclays is a trading name of Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiaries. Barclays Bank PLC is authorized by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register
No. 122702). Registered in England. Registered number is 1026167 with registered office at 1 Churchill Place, London E14 5HP. Barclays Bank PLC New York Branch is located at 745 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019. Item Ref: BM409717. Revised March 2016.

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