MENA FCCG

Newsroom

June 23, 2020

MENA FCCG Holds Plenary Meeting

On June 23rd, 2020, MENA FCCG conducted its Plenary meeting. During this first digital Plenary Meeting, the Chairman and Deputy Chair welcomed new members and discussed key recent accomplishments including release of a survey of MENA banks AML/CTF practices in collaboration with the Union of Arab Banks, translation of Wolfsberg’s Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (CBDDQ) Guidance into Arabic, and providing Wolfsberg’s CBDDQ capacity building videos with an Arabic voiceover; soon to be posted on the Group’s website.

The meeting also discussed proposed deliverables for 2020-21 to ensure ongoing momentum and added value across the region and beyond.  Among other things, members agreed on developing best practice tools and templates to be posted on the Group’s website in both Arabic and English language for the benefit of compliance professionals across MENA. Mr. Mana Al-Dohan,  Head of KSA’s  AFCML Committee joined the meeting as an observer to assess how to better align actions undertaken in achieving the overarching objective of effectively tackling financial crime.

Mr. Alan Ketley, Chair of Wolfsberg’s Standing Committee on the CBDDQ also joined the meeting and delivered a presentation covering Wolfsberg’s key planned actions and an update on Wolfsberg’s CBDDQ. The plenary also covered two technical topics; the Arab Regional Payment System (Buna) and the Caesar Civilian Protection Act of 2019.