The Arab Banks Forum on Money Laundering opens in Sharm El Sheikh

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The Arab Banks Forum on Money Laundering opens in Sharm El Sheikh


11/07/2019











The Arab Banking Union Forum, under the theme 'Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism - Combating Human Trafficking - Cyber ​​Crime', will be held on Thursday, July 11-13, 2019, in Sharm El Sheikh with the participation of a large number of bankers. And officials. 

The phenomenon of human trafficking is a global phenomenon that affects millions of people around the world, men, women and children. The crime of trafficking is the third organized crime that benefits its perpetrators after the crimes of arms trafficking and drug trafficking.

Despite the considerable efforts made by regulatory authorities around the world to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, organized crime continues to take on a wide global reach with cross-border impact. Most of them have complicated their operations by relying on the tools and innovations of financial technology and exploiting the growth of banking services, Which has become a source of great attention from the various judicial authorities, control and security in the world, and the supervisory and supervisory authorities concerned to stimulate and introduce some necessary changes in the models of their work and regulatory control and regulatory frameworks Of the overall reduction of those crimes.

The international cooperation among international bodies and organizations such as the Financial Action Group, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Basel Committee, the Financial Crimes Control Group, the G20 and the Union of Arab Banks has contributed to strengthening the measures to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism and raise awareness among the banking and financial sector in the Arab world Methods and techniques in managing risk of non - compliance.

In this context, the importance of this forum, which is organized by the Union of Arab Banks, aims to unify the efforts of regional and international partnership, reduce the gap between the Arab and international normative approaches and protect the banks and Arab financial institutions from any legal or regulatory risks or reputation. And the role of financial institutions and concerned parties to combat the money laundering resulting from it, in light of the digital revolution and the innovations of financial technology, which created great opportunities and challenges for all parties, whether in money laundering or combating it .

The forum highlights the fight against human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, analysis of financial activities related to human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, the interpretation of the relationship between the digital revolution and the innovations of financial technology and the development of ways to combat money laundering, and the latest update on the financial working group on virtual assets.






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Arab Bankers: E-piracy is the fastest growing crime in the world




12/07/2019








Arab bankers and specialists warned on Thursday of the rise of cybercrime as a result of the massive information revolution on bank deposits, stressing the need for banks to develop technically in line with updates of this crime. 

They stressed the importance of cybercrime to be one of the most widespread crimes in the world. 
In his speech, Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, said that the Union seeks, in cooperation with Arab and regional bodies and organizations, to promote and develop ways to combat cybercrime.

This cooperation includes tracking and prosecuting perpetrators, identifying means of penetration, how fraud occurs and its origin, and lighting laws that criminalize this phenomenon, such as crimes against credit cards and electronic cards. 

Wissam Fattouh, speaking at the Arab Banking Union conference, entitled "The most important developments related to money laundering and the financing of terrorism - cybercrime and combating human trafficking", held in Sharm El Sheikh, said that despite the great achievements achieved globally and regionally in the field of combating money laundering and financing Terrorism, these phenomena continue to concern the world, especially those that suffer from the phenomenon of terrorism.

He added that in the era of e-prosperity, the evolution of information and communication systems and the widespread spread of computer and the Internet, and in the era of electronic governments in some of our Arab countries, changed the way of life, and changed the forms of things, including undoubtedly patterns of crime in its absolute meaning. 

He went on to say that states and governments, the Arab and international security and regulatory agencies are in a race with serious minds to prevent them from continuing their criminal behavior and reducing their dangers to our societies, economies and Arab banks. 

Wissam Fattouh pointed out that cybercrime has become one of the most common types of crimes in the world according to international statistics and data. This is why this type of crime is required by the concerned international authorities, and it has led to amending some laws and adding other laws to keep pace with Committing crimes that cause physical and psychological problems and violate human privacy and rights.

The Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Banks pointed out that the continuous review and updating of the laws is necessary, and this kind of forum, which is a platform for bodies, bodies and individuals with the competence to follow developments and work to strengthen the culture of combating these crimes in the concerned banks, judges, Competent bodies in this area to deal with the increase in cases of crimes pending before the courts with respect to the use of information technology means. 

In his speech, Advisor Ahmed Saeed Khalil, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Unit said on Thursday that cybercrime is one of the latest developments in technology and information revolution. 

"Although it is important to combat human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, most countries do not have accurate statistics on the amount of money associated with these crimes," said adviser Ahmed Said Khalil.
The world now lived in the age of the information revolution, with the Internet, the computer networks and the information systems creating a new opportunity to commit criminal activities, which posed great challenges to the enormous flood of information and developments. 

Hisham Okasha, head of the National Bank of Egypt, stressed that the Central Bank of Egypt is closely following the impact of technological developments on banks through training and modern legislation. 
Okasha, quoting a specialized international journal, said that $ 172 billion had been stolen in 20 countries around the world through e-piracy.






http://www.uabonline.org/en/news/arabicnews/16051589158516011610160816061593158515761575160416/65745/0

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Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks: Full cooperation to develop ways to combat cybercrime




12/07/2019















Wissam Fattouh, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, said on Thursday that the Union of Arab Banks seeks, in cooperation with Arab and regional bodies and organizations, to promote and develop ways to combat cybercrime among the concerned parties, to track and prosecute the perpetrators, to identify means of penetration, Laws that criminalize this phenomenon, such as crimes of assault on credit cards and electronic cards, and crimes against the privacy of individuals and those affecting the security of States, using the information network and information technology and other modern crimes.

, Held in Sharm El-Sheikh, said that despite the great achievements achieved globally and regionally in the field of combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, these phenomena continue to concern the world, especially countries suffering from the phenomenon of terrorism, pointing out that in the era of electronic prosperity, In the era of electronic governments in some of our Arab countries, the way of life has changed, and the forms of things have changed. 


There is no doubt that crime patterns are in their absolute meaning, and everyone knows that states, governments, And the world in a race with serious minds to prevent them from pursuing their criminal behavior and reducing their dangers to our societies, economies and Arab banks, especially electronic crime, which is classified today as crimes that do not recognize borders or barriers, exploiting the spread of modern devices and the wide use in various fields.

Wissam Fattouh pointed out that cybercrime has become one of the most common types of crimes in the world according to international statistics and data. This is why this type of crime is required by international bodies concerned, Committing crimes that cause physical and psychological problems and violate human privacy and rights.

The Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Banks pointed out that the continuous review and updating of the laws is necessary, and this kind of forum, which is a platform for bodies, bodies and individuals competent to follow up developments and work to strengthen the culture of combating these crimes in the concerned banks, judges, The competent bodies in this field to face the increase in the cases of crimes awaiting before the courts with regard to the use of information technology means, and their entry into the life aspects, in addition to the need to pay attention to the dissemination of awareness and legal culture in society, Maat and schools.


"Technology has invaded various industries and markets, and information and knowledge have become a symbol of the new economic era, including the banking sector, which has become a renaissance of business technology," Wissam Fattouh said. "We emphasize the need to raise the culture of users of new technologies and programs to avoid errors resulting from the use of technology. 


And to increase awareness of users of the dangers of lack of good knowledge of dealing with the Internet, and to identify the methods used by some to abuse others and exploit them through technological media, and work to learn how to use some programs that help protect Users of the misuse of technology, and the establishment of courses and workshops aimed at raising awareness of the users of those devices that have become part of our daily lives, and in this area I want to emphasize that despite the continuous development of protection programs, but the means of penetration is still in an accelerated development also ' .

Wissam Fattouh stressed that the important issues raised and discussed in this forum include the crime of human trafficking and the smuggling of migrants. This is a new phenomenon that began with the security disturbances witnessed by some of our Arab countries.


 It is important in this regard to make it clear that the term trafficking and trafficking Migrants, which makes it particularly necessary for policy makers, law enforcement agencies, immigration officials and civil society organizations to recognize the differences and differences between them, so that when they are confused, trafficking victims may be criminally deprived of access to protection, services or legal redress They have access to them because they are considered victims of a crime under international law, while the reality of immigrants is not so, as they pay smugglers in exchange for facilitating their movements and movements.

In cooperation with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Group in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has launched a questionnaire on AML / CFT practices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) banks. The questionnaire was launched in May 2018 and closed by the end of December 2018.


 The questionnaire was sent to There were only 300 banks operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The response rate was positive, with 128 banks responding to the survey, noting that we did not specify the name of the bank and country name in this questionnaire. Answer the answer Objective and transparent. The questionnaire was prepared and structured to build a comprehensive review of international AML / CFT standards. Questions were carefully selected to reflect the major concerns of international organizations, policy makers and market players.

"This is the first comprehensive study in the Arab region to shed light on the compliance function in MENA banks and how these banks can combat financial crime. This is very important for understanding and assessing the level of development of compliance functions in the MENA region, And the AML / CFT practices adopted by the banks operating in this region. The results of this study also serve as a basis for the authorities and policy makers in the region to assess the fight against this scourge in their banks and adopt correct measures if necessary.







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