Martin Hořický
Partner • Digital Services
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is an independent society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication. SWIFT was founded by major European and North American banks in 1973 to facilitate and execute financial transactions in international payments.Currently, up to 11,000 banks and financial companies from 200 countries use these services. It is the SWIFTNet telecommunications network that handles these transactions.
SWIFT enables the transfer of funds between banks and financial institutions through the exchange of standardised financial messages in a secure and reliable manner. SWIFT operates a messaging network that exchanges standardised financial transactions and messages between financial institutions, facilitating cross-border payments, trade finance and treasury operations.
Why you need Swift?
All member companies wishing to use the SWIFT architecture are required to perform health checks against current cyber threats. Mandatory security checks create a security foundation for the entire community. SWIFT has chosen to prioritize these mandatory controls to set a realistic goal for short-term, tangible security gains and risk reduction.
The BDO approach
BDO helps companies to ensure compliance with these controls, either from the outset or to revise or consult on existing arrangements in place. The first step is to study the documentation, processes and procedures in place, followed by the actual verification against the SWIFT framework. Our output is a report that includes compliance parts according to the SWIFT architecture.
