Sharjah Islamic Bank strengthens fraud and money laundering prevention processes with Complinet
Leading United Arab Emirates’ bank joins rapidly growing list of Middle East financial services institutions depending on Complinet for compliance needs
New York, NY and London, UK – July 15, 2008 – The Sharjah Islamic Bank, one of the leading financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates, has chosen and implemented a risk and compliance solution from Complinet for fraud-related screening.
The Sharjah Islamic Bank has selected and deployed the Complinet Global Screening Workstation to historically and continuously monitor and screen clients against a global database of sanctions, enforcements, blacklists and politically exposed persons. The entire screening process is fully auditable.
The bank relies on the Complinet solution to evaluate all new and existing customers, and to cross-check information against myriads of sources to ensure the bank is not at risk from fraud, money laundering or other illegal practices that may affect its regulatory compliance status.
Complinet Global Screening Workstation provides the necessary safeguards and real-time information required for the bank’s rigorous Know Your Customer (KYC) policies and processes. It is able to cope with the high volume of existing client data to be screened quickly and efficiently against a continuous flow of global sanctions and enforcement data. Complinet Global Screening Workstation also guarantees a smooth and secure workflow, working as part of the compliance procedures already in place at the Sharjah Islamic Bank.
All new customers are screened through the system and where necessary, information is enhanced manually, for example with data gathered from face-to-face client meetings. The monitoring is automated and continuous, with all client names checked against new enforcements or sanctions on a daily basis, with full audit trails. Alerts notify compliance managers if there is a change in status of client names against global watchlists, so the bank can apply its policies accordingly. The system will also be used to verify potential customers.
The Sharjah Islamic Bank, formerly known as National Bank of Sharjah, was founded in 1975 by an Amiri decree issued by H.H. Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council, and Ruler of Sharjah, to provide commercial banking services to firms and individuals.
“We are extremely pleased to have the Sharjah Islamic Bank as one of our customers,” said Leas Bachatene, managing director for Middle East and Asia Pacific, Complinet. “We are experiencing strong growth in the Middle East region and are currently working with more than 70 financial services firms in the region to reduce their exposure to risk.”
About Complinet
Complinet is the leading provider of dynamic and connected risk and compliance solutions to the global financial services industry.
The company’s solutions minimise exposure to risk by providing the information and technology to track and connect live external events, such as regulatory or sanction changes, with internal policy management and screening activities.
Complinet was founded in 1997 and has offices in New York, London, Sydney and Dubai. Every day, industry professionals in more than 1,600 firms across 81 countries rely on Complinet to provide information, analysis and solutions that help them keep pace with changing regulations.
