The Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (CAML) Seminar, now in its 11th year, will be held on November 4th in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- CAML 2019 is a premier platform for regulatory experts, subject specialists, and compliance executives to discuss the most pressing issues for the GRC community.
- Key topics under discussion include the latest on sanctions and regulatory updates, the impact of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mutual evaluation and the developments in technology in the fight against financial crime.
- Subject matter experts include Tom Keatinge, Director at the Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, Royal United Services Institute; Ghaith Zubi, UN Sanctions Expert and Dr. Alwaleed Alsheikh, Executive Secretary, MENA FATF.
Refinitiv at CAML 2019
Refinitiv is set to host the Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (CAML) Seminar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 4th, 2019. The event, now in its 11th year, is held in association with The Financial Academy and under the patronage of His Excellency Dr Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA).
The Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (CAML) Seminar
The Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (CAML) Seminar has grown significantly in stature since its debut in 2008 and is now a premier platform for the discussion and exchange of regulatory and financial crime information.
Recent reforms in Saudi Arabia have encouraged debate on many of the governance, risk and compliance issues that are usually discussed at the Seminar. Indeed, the Kingdom has increasingly demonstrated an ambition to align with global efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing. More recently the government has developed a comprehensive set of revisions to anti-money laundering and counter terror financing (AML/CFT) laws, and has directed financial institutions to raise the level of their compliance standards.
The impact of FATF evaluations
The Kingdom has also shown a resolve to work closely with international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Its recent evaluation by the Middle East and North Africa FATF (MENAFATF) body showed that the country was compliant and largely complaint in 36 out of 40 of FATFs recommendations, confirming a high level commitment to achieving international AML/CFT standards. This is no small feat – the process of mutual evaluation is extremely thorough and the scrutiny is intense. For its efforts, Saudi Arabia was recently awarded full membership of FATF, the only country in the region to do so.
Given the intensity of the assessment, governments have to prepare well in advance for FATF evaluations, and compliance executives from countries where assessments are due in the coming months will have the opportunity to learn from the Kingdom’s recent evaluation experience, and to interact with the panel.
Countries such as Egypt and Qatar, with assessments due in 2020, and Lebanon and Oman, due for assessment in 2021, will no doubt be watching closely and incorporating lessons into their preparations.
New technology
The 2019 Financial Crime in MENA Report noted an increase in investment in technology by MENA-based organizations over the preceding two years, as well as an expectation that investment in technology will continue to increase over the coming two years. Not only are compliance departments increasing their technology spend, they are also focusing on the sophistication of their technology to help remediation efforts, with nearly 60% of respondents indicating that they had recently invested in some kind of innovative technology.
This is not surprising, given the substantial volume of data that has to be effectively and timeously managed by compliance departments. Many are struggling under the burden of a substantial volume of false positives, and to a smaller degree false negatives, that have to be remediated in line with regulators’ expectations. This creates a substantial volume of work and diverts resources away from high risk and sensitive remediation cases.
Our latest research demonstrates that many believe that innovation is the key to managing compliance, and pushing back against financial crime. Compliance executives are searching for solutions that offer targeted technology, trusted data and human intelligence.
Regulatory outlook
The regulatory environment is dynamic and increasingly complex, and we have noted in particular an increase in the volume of anti-bribery and corruption (ABC) regulation. A number of countries have introduced new ABC rules that have an impact beyond their borders, and at the same time enforcement agencies have become better resourced and focused. There is also a more concerted effort to increase cooperation between agencies in an effort to crack down on bribery and corruption.
The Financial Crime in MENA Report revealed, however, that local compliance departments were under prepared for this growing regulatory risk. Less than half of respondents have an ABC program, with many claiming that it was due to a lack of awareness of the issue and nearly a third claiming that it was due to a lack of resources and management support.
The regulatory and sanctions outlook for the coming year will be discussed in detail at the Seminar with notable speakers such as Dr. Alwaleed Alsheikh, Executive Secretary, MENA FATF, and Lyndsey Merrill, Financial Attaché to the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Refinitiv, a leader in regulatory and compliance intelligence
Refinitiv is leading many of the conversations around governance, risk and compliance, and we are continually searching for answers to some of the core issues that challenge businesses around the world. We are committed to finding ever-more efficient ways to combine the three critical elements of data, technology and human intelligence to deliver targeted tools to help companies fight crime, promote sustainable initiatives, and navigate the future of finance.
Clean, complete and reliable data is the starting point, because without data, organizations are powerless to form any meaningful view of risk. Fueled by trusted data, the right technology can help organizations to streamline processes; reduce the burden on compliance teams; pinpoint risk with accuracy; improve the customer experience; boost operational efficiency; and more.
Data and technology alone, however, can never replace human intelligence.
The Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (CAML) Seminar will be held at the Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on November 4th, 2019. Registration is currently open and seats are limited. To register your attendance and connect with regulatory experts, please click here.
