(1888PressRelease)
December 25, 2006 - The conference is a direct dialogue between the banking sectors in the U.S. and MENA region with the objective to raise awareness of terrorist financing and money laundering risks, facilitate a better understanding of effective practices and programs to combat such risks, and strengthen implementation of effective anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing controls.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has hosted this conference in coordination with the Union of Arab Banks, the Middle East/North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA-FATF), and with the support of the American Bankers Association, the Arab Bankers Association of North America, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The event invited a diversified mix of speakers including central bank governors and vice governors, senior policy makers and regulators, in addition to several chairmen of Arab banks and senior American officials. The participants provided insights into the latest developments related to AML/CFT issues.
Speaking on OIB's presence at the conference, Abou-El-Fotouh remarked, 'The invitation to take part in this important conference signifies the stand of OIB as a leading bank in Oman. By way of example, I had the chance to illustrate how the Bank protects itself from being exploited by criminals to carry out suspicious activities.'
He further added, 'I am also happy that representation from the banking sector in the region was remarkable. We have focused on progress and challenges in the institutional development and implementation of AML/CFT controls in the U.S. and MENA banking sectors.'
Abou-El-Fotouh further noted, 'the format for these sessions was largely roundtable discussions which proved very efficient for building effective dialogue with our counterparts from the U.S.'
He concluded by saying, 'Despite the global effort and progress achieved to deter money laundering, there is a considerable amount of work still to be done in this area.'
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