Restricted Party Screening and Resolution Services Debuts

JPMorgan Chase Vastera offers risk management service for global trade compliance and financial transactions

JPMorgan Chase Vastera offers risk management service for global trade compliance and financial transactions

Dulles, VA — February 24, 2006 — Global trade management (GTM) specialist JPMorgan Chase Vastera has rolled out its Restricted Party Screening and Resolution Services (RPS), a new name-screening solution that combines hands-on trade expertise and technology to help companies comply with international trade and security laws, counter-terrorism requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act, and other U.S. and international government regulations.

Government laws prohibit the exchange of commodities, technical data or services with certain parties or entities that have been deemed irresponsible traders or a threat to national security. Failure to comply with such laws can result in significant fines, loss of trade privileges and even imprisonment.

Eschewing a "technology-only" approach, JPMorgan Chase Vastera's RPS leverages the company's trade expertise and technology to review customer names and addresses against 50-plus ever-changing international lists of denied parties and determine which customers, if any, are restricted or blacklisted. Vastera then delivers a compliance record, highlighting positive matches, identifying which lists the matches are against, outlining the legal requirements associated with each particular lists, and recommending compliance steps. Resolution rationale for all screened names is documented and retained for audit trail reference.

Facilitating Compliance

"Our name-screening methodologies and strategies meet a standard of care we believe is expected by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)," said Larry Christensen, JPMorgan Chase Vastera's vice president of export controls and a former BIS official. "Our goal is to help companies remain compliant by maintaining a clean customer, vendor and supplier database, ultimately resulting in a strong, efficient supply chain."

As JPMorgan Chase Vastera sees it, the benefits of RPS include facilitating compliance with government laws and eliminating risks of transacting with denied parties; avoiding financial penalties, imprisonment or loss of trade privileges due to non-compliance with trade regulations; and eliminating the internal costs and time dedicated to manual in-house screening, as well as the costs and time required to acquire, install, integrate, host and maintain name-screening software.

The service can be up and running within days, regardless of the number of names that need to be screened, according to JPMorgan Chase Vastera. Screening can be performed in a time frame that meets the customer's needs, such as hours prior to shipping or filling a payment order, the solution provider said.

Updating the Data

Customers receive a consolidated deliverable that contains all necessary information for the customer to take appropriate action without having to wade through hundreds or thousands of potential matches.

JPMorgan Chase Vastera said its trade experts have access to the most current trade data as more than 50 denied party lists from governments and organizations around the world are consolidated into one central database that is monitored and updated daily. Vastera's internal audit team monitors these lists daily to ensure that new additions and updates are validated and updated in our systems usually within 24 hours or less.

A company's customers are marked as vetted and cleared upon screening. Names are automatically re-screened when new additions or updates are published to supported restricted party lists, thus reducing transaction fees. This service is provided at no additional cost to JPMorgan Chase Vastera's customers.

Restricted Party Screening and Resolution Services are now available on a nationwide basis. The Vastera team will initially work with JPMorgan Chase's Global Trade sales team on selling efforts targeting the bank's existing relationships with more than 50,000 mid-market, mid-corporate and large corporate customers. The service is planned for other regions later this year.


Additional Articles of Interest

Imminent terrorist attacks or no, your competitive advantage demands that you secure your company's supply chain. Read more in "Supply Chain Security: Is Your Company Complacent or Engaged?," in the February/March 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

For a look at how Tyco Fire & Security is tackling trade compliance issues in its global supply chain, see "Turning Global Trade Compliance Into a Competitive Advantage," in the August/September 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.


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