MENA FCCG Participates in UAB event; the Annual Meeting of Compliance Managers in Arab Banks
On July 14-16, 2023, the Union of Arab banks hosted the Annual Forum for Compliance Managers in Arab Banks in collaboration with the Federation of Egyptian Banks, MENA FATF, and the Egyptian Money Laundering Combatting Unit. The event, which took place in Hurghada, Egypt aims to enhance banks’ efforts towards effectively tackling financial crime by creating a venue for discussing key priority areas and challenges facing the banking compliance sector in the MENA region. MENA FCCG member, Mr. Ihab El Masry, Group Head of Compliance & Corporate Governance, National Bank of Egypt, delivered a presentation on recent achievements of MENA FCCG and key penciled actions to continue adding value on its mission in making a difference in the fight against financial crime.
Representing MENA FCCG, Mr. Mohammad Takrouri, Head of Enterprise Risk Evaluation & Assurance, Arab Bank, Jordan also attended. Mr. Takrouri participated in the session entitled “Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment in the Financial Sector”. The session discussed the National AML/CTF Risk Assessment (NRA) which is a critical tool for countries to identify, assess, and understand ML/TF risks they are exposed to and allocate available resources to control, mitigate, and eliminate identified risks. The session also discussed the methodology for banks’ AML/CTF Self Risk Assessments which needs to address various dimensions of risk exposures including customer types, products offered, and jurisdictions served in an effort to apply commensurate risk mitigation measures. Mr. Essam Barakat Deputy Executive Director, Egyptian Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Combating Unit and Mrs. Safaa el Ashry, Regional Head of Compliance Middle East & Africa, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Egypt also participated in this session.
MENA FCCG member, Mr. Ihab El Masry, Group Head of Compliance & Corporate Governance, National Bank of Egypt
