UAE Banks Federation partnered with SWIFT to bring together senior representatives from financial institutions across the region to look at the impact of global regulations and to discuss the adoption of global best practice.

More than 65 delegates attended the meeting, including senior financial institution and transaction bankers as well as compliance experts.

The discussion addressed the challenges faced by the region’s banks as they manage increasingly onerous regulatory requirements aimed at eliminating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Nasser Sarris, general manager of the UAE Banks Federation, said: “Financial crime is a growing threat to the global economy and is a challenge that must be met by all financial institutions.

“The federation sees the promotion of insightful discussion on such matters as a key part of its industry role and we are happy to partner with SWIFT to help our members find the most efficient solutions to common problems.”

The leading topic for discussion was the so-called KYC – know-your-customer – regulations. These apply to banks in the same way as they do to retail customers and represent a huge operational challenge for banks.

The failure to comply can be costly in terms of reputational damage as well as risking punitive fines.

KYC regulations require banks to collect and maintain up-to-date information about every institution that they deal with. Doing this and performing due diligence checks on correspondent banking partners is costly and time consuming, and the effort is duplicated by individual banks around the world.

Sido Bestani, head of Middle East and North Africa and Turkey, SWIFT, said: “Banking relationships are being terminated around the world because of a reduced risk appetite and growing concerns about KYC transparency. For banks, managing the data and processes required to comply with regulations on a bilateral basis is inefficient and costly.

“This is why SWIFT has developed its KYC Registry. This can help banks to reduce KYC-related costs and mitigate compliance-related risks in a simple, secure and standards-driven way.”

“SWIFT has a long relationship with the UAE Banks Federation, including the hosting of such joint events on topics of interest, and sees it as a pivotal partner in the region.”

“These kinds of events are a crucial platform for informed discussion and a vital forum for industry colleagues to share experiences. We are therefore delighted to partner with the UAE Banks Federation and the broader SWIFT community as they look for common solutions to industry-wide, global challenges such as KYC regulations,” Bestani added. - TradeArabia News Service