Know Your Customer (KYC)

Refreshed July 2024 | CPD time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

Know your customer (KYC) is the process that enables financial institutions to identify their customer and understand their requirements, and to improve their banking experience. In addition, it allows the firm to gain sufficient knowledge of a customer to meet its regulatory obligations. This module provides an overview of the KYC process. While some of the specific examples are drawn from the UK, the main content of the module reflects international standards and best practice (in particular, the recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)). In addition, it outlines the principal elements of the KYC process, while recognising that most firms will have their own internal policies which will set out the specific steps that must be undertaken.