MANAMA: Refinitiv announced the inauguration of the 11th Compliance and Anti Money Laundering Seminar in Saudi Arabia on November 4th, 2019 in association with the Financial Academy and under the auspices of Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and Chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Permanent Committee (AMLPC).
The event hosts a number of regional and international regulatory and Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) experts and provides a platform for the exchange of ideas and information between the Kingdom’s business leaders, financial institutions and local GRC professionals.
According to Refinitiv’s 2019 MENA Financial Crime report, Middle Eastern markets have seen an increase in technology investment to assist with compliance burden. The report noted a rise in personal liability and growth of anti-bribery and corruption regulation. In the five years of this study, the number of respondents with an existing anti money laundering program have been consistently high, an average of 79%.
“Collaboration, information sharing, and innovation are key elements in the fight against financial crime. The global nature of financial crime means we need collective action and more innovative approaches if we are to combat it effectively. As regulators, we are keen to support the ongoing engagement between government entities and the private sector in order to shape public awareness and help address critical compliance issues facing our financial sector,” Alkholifey noted.
“As a company, we will continue to support organizations with expert knowledge and innovative technology as they look to navigate the increasingly complex regulatory environment. But our insights and knowledge go far beyond data and technology, we are committed to uncovering the true scale of the financial crime challenge, to raise awareness and create the data and coalitions that will increase our ability to fight financial crimes together,” Nadim Najjar, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, Refinitiv, said.
“At Refinitiv, we have seen first-hand how organisations have employed advanced regulatory technology to augment their own risk and compliance capabilities in critical areas such as risk screening and know your customer (KYC) due diligence. We see opportunity to use this technology to quickly drive down operational costs and help support faster decision making when it comes to on-boarding new customers. This reliance on technology is a trend that I expect to continue for some time as the demand for greater analytical capability and data management resources increases. It comes as no surprise therefore to see a growth in investment in technology this year,” Najjar added.
In the 11 years since the first event was held, the regulatory environment has grown increasingly complex and challenging to navigate. With the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 strategy aimed at boosting economic diversification and encouraging growth across a number of industries, local compliance executives from various sectors will be progressively challenged by the need to align their compliance policies with international standards. The Compliance & Anti-Money Laundering Seminar answers the growing need for accurate, up-to-date and practical compliance information in the local market.
