DOHA: Refinitiv yesterday held the 13th MENA Regulatory Summit in partnership with the Union of Arab Banks and the MENA Financial Crime Compliance Group. More than 40 panellists debated the global regulatory landscape and its influence on the Mena region, including financial crime risk, de-risking, financial inclusion and the digital revolution in financial services, such as cyber security, cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General of Union of Arab Banks (UAB) and Chairman of the MENA Financial Crime Compliance Group (MENA FCCG), said: “For several years, the Union of Arab Banks has been closely monitoring the development of correspondent banking relationships. UAB has organised a series of activities and awareness campaigns in several countries across the globe including Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, Turkey, among others.”
He added: “We are in a serious battle against criminal minds, fighting to put an end to their illicit behaviour and safeguarding Arab banks and societies by defining the concepts of money laundering and terrorism financing.”
Fattouh noted that today we are witnessing increased reliance on financial technology which aims at improving operation efficiently and reducing human intervention in baking operations. “The absence of successful Regtech applications my result in risks that transcend cybersecurity. The Arab banking sector is one of the largest sources of development and lending for private and public sectors. By the end of 2018, the Arab banking sector assets reached 3.5 Trillion dollars which represents 140 percent of GDP, while the sum of deposits reached 2.2 trillion dollar and loans touched 2 trillion dollars,” he pointed out.
Maryam Al Suwaidi, Deputy CEO of Financial Markets Operations Sector Securities & Commodities Authority (SCA), noted that supervision is a key role that SCA assumes. “We have been actively engaging with the private sector since 2017 to cover a wide range of compliance related themes,” she noted.
The 5th Refinitiv MENA Financial Crime Report was revealed at the opening session. According to the survey findings, 44 percent of respondents have fallen victim to financial crime in the past five years.
