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Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT), the leading global financial services association for international transaction banking, announced the publication of a new whitepaper, “Perspectives on Evaluating Potentially Unusual Vessel Behavior.”

While banks offering trade finance products likely have a working knowledge of shipping documentation, staff may be less familiar with the details surrounding the maritime shipping industry.

This can pose challenges when shipments or transactions are flagged as unusual and compliance issues arise. 

This paper aims to provide bankers with a foundational understanding of maritime shipping and the associated compliance risk with this space.

Scott Stevenson, senior vice president of trade for BAFT said, “Our goal is to increase awareness of the risks associated with ocean-going vessels and their potential nexus to financial crimes. 

We hope financial institutions will use the guidance to examine the inherent risk in their trade portfolios, evaluate the need for control adjustments and even innovate new risk mitigation techniques.”

The paper was produced by BAFT’s Trade Compliance Working Group, a subset to the BAFT Trade Compliance Committee, whose membership includes a wide range of banks, law firms and fintech providers.

Stevenson said, “This publication was produced as part of BAFT’s ongoing commitment to thought leadership, best practices and education. It is through such efforts by our committees that the transaction banking industry benefits as a whole.”