Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, in collaboration with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted a seminar on trade-based money laundering at the Learning & Resource Centre Auditorium, SBP, Karachi attended by over 100 senior officials from across the banking sector.
The seminar was hosted by SBP in line with its renewed focus on preventing trade based money laundering. The purpose of this seminar was to allow senior bankers to get an insight on the latest techniques being used to undertake trade based money laundering and global best practices to prevent such illicit funds from entering the financial sector.
The event was part of Standard Chartered's global initiative under the umbrella of Correspondent Banking Academy aimed at imparting global expertise in the field of financial crime to the local market. The seminar was primarily focused around the emerging risks of money laundering within international trade and sharing global best practices in the sphere of Trade based Anti Money Laundering.
Delivering key note address at the event, Syed Irfan Ali, Executive Director, Banking Policy & Regulations Group, SBP, shed light on the regulatory framework related to trade based money laundering. While sharing the recent initiates taken by SBP to curb money laundering through trade transactions, he underlined the importance of capacity building of banking industry to cope with the emerging challenges related to trade based money laundering. He also urged the banking industry to adopt best practices prevailing world over to contain money laundering through trade instruments.
Shahzad Dada, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan said: "Trade based money laundering is not a new phenomenon. However, with the ever increasing growth in global trade volumes and complexity of cross border transactions, it has become increasingly important that banks are more vigilant and apply advanced techniques aided by technological advancements to meet Financial Crime Compliance standards set in place by regulators globally."
Further elaborating on this initiative, Carmel Speers, Regional Head of Financial Crime Compliance for Standard Chartered said: "In order to manage the risks associated with financial crime, most of the banking industry has resorted to de-risking which includes exits from some countries and clients. However, Standard Chartered is taking a different approach on de-risking. We are sharing our knowledge and experience in Financial Crime Compliance with our clients and their employees supporting our clients to meet international standards and better manage their risks."-PR