Under the agreement, Unisys will extend its new core banking system to support the bank's seven overseas branches and manage requirements under Taiwan's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) legislation.

The new core banking system will expand the current domestic core banking system -- which Unisys has supported for 20 years -- to include the overseas branches. This move creates a single global system that leverages the bank's existing investments in staff, reporting and risk management procedures.

The new core banking system is also designed to help Bank of Taiwan comply with Taiwan's Money Laundering Control Act. Under the act, Bank of Taiwan must check messages from the SWIFT financial network in real time against various local and international watch lists to prevent transactions with terrorists or other listed parties. The system also facilitates centralised AML regulatory reporting.

"In today's complex banking environment it is vital that financial institutions have the tools and audit trail to help detect and prevent money laundering activity. The new core banking solution that Unisys is managing for Bank of Taiwan is designed to not only help the bank meet its AML obligations, but also enhance the services the bank provides to the overseas branches and their customers," said Scott Whyman, vice president, Unisys Asia.

"Unisys is in a unique position -- drawing on the rich business knowledge gained in our 20-year relationship working with the Bank of Taiwan and combining it with our global domain expertise in IT services and AML solutions on our proven server technology to create a single integrated global banking platform," Mr Whyman added.

The application will run on two Unisys ClearPath Libra Model 400 servers -- Intel® XeonTM processor-based open mainframe systems designed for organisations with core business solutions that require transaction integrity, high security and uninterrupted transaction processing.