Lord Mayor of the City of London, Nicholas Lyons stressed the depth of relations between London and Doha as two key financial hubs, noting that financial services represent about 12 percent of his countrys gross domestic product. He pointed to the importance of regulation as the cornerstone of financial stability which prevents excessive risk-taking and ensures the ability of financial institutions to overcome economic recession. He added that the regulation ensures integrity, transparency and credibility, and enhances confidence and thus stimulates long-term growth.
He added that new innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain technology, and others pose new and major challenges.
He noted that compliance with anti-money laundering measures represents a high cost for businesses, with estimates indicating that money laundering costs the world between 2% and 5% of its GDP. He also said that regulatory approaches to combating money laundering vary globally and often lack tra
nsparency and efficiency, whose absence pose a challenge, given the lack of a global registry or clear guidelines for real-time data access.
He added that the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill aims to prevent organized criminals and fraudsters from using companies to abuse the open economies.
He warned of greenwashing, a deceitful marketing gimmick used by companies to exaggerate their environmental, social and governance (ESG)-friendly products, which harms the credibility of the broader market, noting that some ESG rating agencies have been recently slammed for their lack of data accuracy.
Meanwhile, Managing Director, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMA), for London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Sayed Nadim Najjar said that combating money laundering and related crimes is a challenge that requires an increasingly complex approach from both regulatory bodies and companies. He highlighted the importance of AI in battling money laundering, a practice that has plagued th
e world’s financial systems for decades.
The recent Crypto crash that erased over USD2 trillion in market value, serves as a stark reminder of the need for vigilant regulatory oversight. It also led to the unfortunate collapse of many cryptocurrency projects and investment funds, prompting a close digital asset scrutiny.
Najjar stressed the need to strengthen defense mechanisms against trade-based financial crimes, calling for a vigilant oversight to combat greenwashing, and ensure the environmental goals.
Former Chair of FIU, Egmont Group, Xolisile Khanyile said that compliance is essential to prevent crime infiltrating financial systems, protect the integrity of institutions, and support information-driven investigations, prosecutions and asset recovery.
Khanyile added that the implementation of the risk-based approach is still in its early stages in many countries, stressing the necessity of implementing the best preventive measures by the private sector.
She also stressed that asset recovery remains
a challenge, with countries only recovering a small portion of their actual proceeds, calling for a more consistent criminal justice framework and encouraged partnerships to enhance cooperation and information exchange.
For his part, Executive General Manager and Chief Compliance Officer at Commercial Bank, Abdullah Al Fadli, stressed the increasing investment in compliance functions and regulatory technologies by institutions based in Qatar for sustainable programs to combat financial crimes. He said that a successful compliance program in the MENA region requires appropriate (needs-based) training and development to promote a sustainable culture of compliance.
Source: Qatar News Agency