The Banking Executive Magazine - Issue 150, June 2021

The Seventh Annual Arab – Cypriot Forum reinforcing the range of measures to clarify supervisory expecta- tions for correspondent banking in a two-way dialogue with the industry. These include regulatory standards, detailed guidelines and official statements. 4. In addition, we call on authorities to continue providing practical guidance and clarity in the form of typologies, good and bad prac- tices and case studies to explain how banks fall short of expecta- tions. The role of the Central Banks is essential in this respect! 5. This two-way dialogue on risk can significantly enhance the ef- fectiveness of AML/CFT/CPF frameworks. Let us not forget that a key challenge of the risk-based approach (RBA) is to achieve su- pervisory consistency. 6. It is vital to support domestic ca- pacity building in jurisdictions that are home to affected respon- dent banks. 7. Finally, and this is very important, authorities can support the banks in affected areas by having a per- sonal direct dialog, with the top decision makers of the interna- tional clearing banks themselves. Experience shows that the credi- bility of the top regulator has a very powerful impact and often influences a change of policy vis a vis an excluded or insufficiently covered local banking sector. A very efficient way of doing this is to benefit from the annual IMF/World Bank meetings in the Fall to organize meetings with the Chairpersons and CEOs of top banks. During these meetings, en- couraging highlights of the na- tional economy, monetary and fiscal policies are presented with insistence on the resolve of the national central bank in the en- forcement of the highest compli- ance standards. This vote of confidence towards national banks, reassures international bankers and encourages them to expand and reinforce their corre- spondent relationships with the home market. It is by doing all this that we can start to reverse the de-risking trend and begin to‘re-risk’. TECHNICAL SESSIONS Over the period of two days, the event witnessed 11 technical ses- sions where 12 experts from Cyprus, Lebanon, the UK and Malta deliv- ered highly informative and engaging presentations, and were distributed as following: Topic: Investigating the Global De- cline in Correspondent Banking Re- lationships Speaker: Mr. Symeon Symeou, Head of Compliance, Astro Bank Topic: Key Trends and Risks Consid- ered by Major Correspondent Banks Speaker: Mrs. Niki Charilaou, Man- ager Financial Crime & Sanctions Compliance Department, Bank of Cyprus Keynote Presentation: Dr. Nahla Khaddaj Bou Diab, General Man- ager, AM Bank, Lebanon Topic: The US Anti-Money Launder- ing Act (AMLA) of 2020 Speaker: Dr. Dany Nassar, Head of Group Compliance, Bank of Beirut Topic: De-risking- Problems and Al- ternatives for Limiting it Speaker: Mr. Marios Christodoulou, CIO, ESafe Topic: Sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD6) - Proactive Plan- ning and Implementation Speaker: Mrs. Katerina Antoniou, Director, Compliance & Risk| AMLCO, Deloitte, Cyprus ISSUE 150 JUNE 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 49