ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, May 3rd, 2012 – Collaboration between the public and private sectors has placed the BVI banking industry “on the map” internationally with the introduction of the International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN), unique codes assigned to bank accounts to standardise and simplify the international money transfer process.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE told the Department of Information and Public Relations that the IBAN is a very important development for the BVI saying, “Government recognises that this step has positioned the BVI as a world-class banking centre, by putting the BVI on the same level with more than 50 other countries, giving us presence on the global playing field and nurturing the BVI’s banking business overall.” Honourable Smith added, “We are convinced that the BVI banking industry, although very small compared to other banking centres, will grow further as it continues to participate in activities to engage international standards of the industry.”
The Ministry of Finance endorsed the application for a national country code to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) upon the initiative of the BVI Bank Association. SWIFT, the official registrar for the IBAN approved the application allowing the national IBAN format for the BVI available to banks worldwide effective this month.
The Minister of Finance said he applauds all parties involved in the initiative saying, “This collaboration illustrates positive results of the financial services industry consultation in January of this year, where Government and industry professionals met to map out a viable structure to enable full cooperation between both private and public sectors.”
In an invited comment, President of the BVI Bank Association Ms. Joycelyn Murraine said, “This is an important step for the BVI. Being a member of IBAN, efficiency will be gained, enabling Straight Through Processing, and with that, the BVI can attract significant banking business from new markets and banks.”
Ms. Murraine also indicated that the BVI is “ahead of the game” as it is anticipated that IBAN will be progressively introduced in most countries forming the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in the near future, and that wire transfers might no longer be possible without an IBAN number.
The introduction of the IBAN marks Government’s commitment to compliance with established and emerging global standards and initiatives within the financial services industry and enhanced partnership between both the private and public sectors.
More than 9,000 banks all over the world use SWIFT in order to execute every day millions of payments and securities transactions.
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