Mauritius Commercial Bank Taps Windward’s AI Solution to Optimize Trade Finance and Compliance Processes
February 10, 2021
MCB will integrate Windward’s Predictive Intelligence solution to increase efficiency across its trading practices, empowering MCB to continue to trade with confidence in an era of rapidly increasing risks.
Zaahir Sulliman
Today, Windward the Predictive Intelligence company applying AI to transform global maritime trade, and Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd the longest-standing and leading banking institution in Mauritius, announced a long-term, multi-year partnership to enhance MCB’s due diligence and monitoring processes linked to its commodity trade finance business. Windward’s AI-powered solution will increase efficiency across MCB’s maritime trade finance practices and strengthen compliance and trade-based money laundering screening processes.
Financial institutions in both Mauritius and around the world are under increased pressure by both national and international compliance regulators to implement extensive due-diligence processes, especially in light of new sanctions advisories by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the US and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) in the UK. To this end, forward-thinking financial institutions are turning to AI systems to bolster effectiveness, streamline lengthy processes, and gain insights into deceptive practices used to facilitate financial crimes.
“Windward’s platform was the natural choice when we were looking to boost efficiency of our due diligence and Know Your Vessel processes,” said Zaahir Sulliman, Head of Specialized Finance at Mauritius Commercial Bank. “As maritime trade becomes increasingly complex to navigate, our partnership with Windward enables us to more effectively meet regulatory expectations and enhances our efforts to improve business operations, reduce risks, and improve compliance across our commodity finance business.”
This partnership comes on the heels of Windward’s announcement of a partnership with Danske Bank in November 2020. Windward’s powerful AI-based dynamic risk solution provides financial institutions with a state-of-the-art platform to effectively streamline the risk management journey. Windward’s Predictive Intelligence is powered by advanced maritime AI technology which is based on 300 behavioral analytics models and over 10 billion data points.
“We pride ourselves on partnering with best-in-class financial institutions,” said Ami Daniel, CEO and Co-Founder of Windward. “As trade finance becomes more complex due to increased regulation, it is essential for banks to enhance their compliance processes and to be better informed on the entities they conduct business with. We are proud to push the digital transformation of the industry forward by providing Mauritius Commercial Bank with the highest level of comprehensive risk-based analysis of maritime trade.”
About Windward: Windward is the leading Predictive Intelligence company fusing AI and big data to digitalize the global maritime industry, enabling organizations to achieve business and operational readiness. Windward's AI-powered solution allows stakeholders including banks, commodity traders, insurers, and major energy and shipping companies to make real-time, predictive intelligence-driven decisions, providing a 360° view of the maritime ecosystem and its broader impact on safety, security, finance, and business.
About Mauritius Commercial Bank: With its 181-year history, The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd (MCB) has evolved to an integrated bank and financial services institution, which offers tailored and innovative solutions to a diversified client base, ranging from retail to corporate and institutions. MCB’s rich history, commitment to customer service and excellence, innovative culture, and high-quality employees have underpinned its solid franchise and long track record of sustainable profitability and financial soundness. MCB has also established a physical presence in 10 countries overseas, via its subsidiaries in Madagascar, Seychelles, and Maldives, its representative offices in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Paris, and Dubai, as well as its associates, Société Générale Moçambique and Banque Française Commerciale Océan Indien (BFCOI – operating in Réunion Island, Mayotte, and Paris).
