MENA FCCG attends the US-MENA Private Sector Dialogue (PSD) 2019
On October 15th, 2019, MENA FCCG participated in the US-MENA Private Sector Dialogue which took place at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The event was well attended by a number of key senior officials including from the US Department of the Treasury, FinCen, MENA central banks, the Arab Monetary Fund, and global correspondent banks. Mr. Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General, Union of Arab Banks and Chairman of the MENA FCCG delivered opening remarks where he provided an overview of MENA FCCG inception and the critical role it plays in enhancing awareness across the MENA region. Mr. Fattouh also provided an update on key MENA FCCG planned actions including translating into Arabic Wolfsberg’s Correspondent Banking Due Diligence Questionnaire (CBDDQ) Guidance Material, as well as holding CBDDQ Workshops in collaboration with Associations of banks for enhanced implementation of the CBDDQ across the region. He also briefed attendees on the soon to be released UAB/MENA FCCG survey on AML/CTF practices aiming to identify pain points and how MENA banks measure against the global yardstick.
Mr. Michael Matossian, MENA FCCG Founder and Deputy Chair, Global Head of Group Regulatory Compliance at Arab Bank and Mr. Chahdan Jebeyli, General Manager, Group Head Legal & Compliance, Bank Audi, participated in the panel discussion in the session entitled “The challenge & opportunities for MENA banks – understanding and meeting US regulatory expectations and the expectations of their correspondents”. The session, moderated by Mr. David Shepard, MENA FCCG Secretary General and Global Partner Director at Refinitiv covered among other things how to best implement a risk based approach to sanctions compliance, OFAC’s compliance expectations and creating a strong regulatory control environment effectively addressing increased challenges. The event was also attended by MENA FCCG members representing Mashreq Bank and Emirates National Bank of Dubai.
