Banks around the world are reducing their banking relationships with a focus on higher-risk countries, including in the region, resulting in more banks losing access to international financial networks and products, said an industry expert.

Osama Al Rahma, CEO of Alfardan Exchange and chairman of Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), was delivering a keynote address the first Business Forum UAE in Abu Dhabi, organised by SWIFT, a global provider of secure financial messaging services.

Al Rahama stressed the need to mitigate the impact of de-risking by financial institutions in mature markets, noting that banks in mature markets are re-evaluating their cross-border activities to manage risk.

“De-risking has affected many regional banks and financial institutions in the Middle East,” he said. “While regulators in mature markets encourage banks to look at risk management at the level of the financial institutions, correspondent banks are applying de-risking to an entire country or even region.”

“The impact of de-risking from a whole country in the way it is done at the moment will negatively affect global trade,” continued Al Rahma.

“SWIFT, a non-profit banking cooperative that is developing sector standards, is supporting the financial community in dealing with the challenge of de-risking in a more realistic and responsible way. It is helping financial institutions become more transparent and giving them the tools and systems to assist them in meeting their regulatory and compliance requirements.”

With the theme “Building for the future: regulation, innovation and the transformation of banking”, the event examined the future of banking in an ever-changing regulatory environment and technology developments in the new digital economy.

Speaking to over 160 senior representatives from the UAE’s banking and financial industry, Khaled Moharem, head of the Mena region for SWIFT, said: “The cost of financial crime compliance is high - the consequences of failure even greater. We are supporting banks and financial institutions in complying with complex regulatory requirements while adopting financial technology solutions that will enhance the efficacy and transparency of their systems.”

Other speakers at the event included senior executives from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Central Bank of the UAE, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Citi Bank Dubai and Lulu Exchange. – TradeArabia News Service