At the South Pacific Central Bank Governors’ Meeting on 17-18 November 2020, the South Pacific Governors agreed that
access to cost-effective remittances remains a high priority focus for the region.
A key focus has been their collective effort to develop a regional ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) facility. The central
banks, with support from the International Monetary Fund and other international agencies, have successfully completed
an initial phase of work on a KYC facility for the South Pacific region.
Simeon Malachi Athy, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu and host of the Meeting, said, “The intention of the
facility is to improve customer due diligence processes and Anti-Money Laundering / Countering Financing of Terrorism
(AML/CFT) compliance, reduce the cost of remittances, lower legal compliance risks, and support the provision of
correspondent banking services to the region.
“Remittances are a key source of income for Pacific Island countries, and are crucial to the income for many families in
these communities. The catastrophic impact of COVID-19 on the South Pacific economies has heightened the need to
accelerate progress on this initiative. The implications of high remittance costs and de-banking are significant to the
future economic wellbeing of the South Pacific Region - and globally.”
Governors have agreed to continue their work to develop the regional KYC facility. This will include working with
commercial banks, money transfer operators, and other key stakeholders in the remittance sector. If successful, this
work will also help drive financial inclusion in the region.
The Governors of the nine central banks thank all of those involved in the work to date, including: International
Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, the UN’s Capital Development Fund, Australian Government Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade; New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; New Zealand Department of Internal
Affairs; and all other Pacific Island country government agencies that have made contributions to date.