Today the Wolfsberg Group is publishing its guidance paper on Requests For Information (RFIs) as used in the anti-money laundering transaction monitoring process. An RFI is used when a Correspondent (or any other provider of payment services) is seeking to understand the background of a transaction that has been processed through an account or relationship in its books and is directed at the customer entity that sent the payment instruction to the Correspondent – this is seen in correspondent banking and other payment relationships where a bank is acting as an intermediary.

The RFI process is a vital part of the feedback loop between Correspondent and Respondent. It is more than simply a process whereby information is conveyed about particular transactions. Used to its fullest potential, it is a vital source of information that allows the Correspondent to see how the Respondent’s AML/KYC programme works in practice and gives the Respondent the opportunity to demonstrate how elements of its programme, which will have been described in its Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (CBDDQ), functions. The timeliness, and completeness of responses can be an important input to the Correspondent’s evaluation of the Respondent relationship. Also, receipt of an RFI may serve as a trigger for the Respondent to consider its own assessment of its customer’s risk profile.

You can access the RFI Best Practice Guidance here.