Payable Through Accounts (PTAs)

These are accounts, similar to respondent accounts, but where the respondent bank offers the service direct to their customers. This means that they could send a wire transfer without first clearing the transaction with the respondent. This means that the respondent’s customers can directly control funds at the correspondent bank without oversight from the respondent.

The PTA account has a number of subaccounts that can be offered to customers such as individuals, commercial businesses, exchange houses, or other banks. Aspects of PTAs that could impact AML efforts:

  • PTAs with banks in offshore locations may have weak licensing or supervision

  • PTAs where the CDD is performed only on the respondent, not the respondent’s customers

  • PTAs where the sub account holders can deposit and withdraw currency

  • PTAs used by a subsidiary of a respondent bank, which can perform banking activity without direct supervision




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