MANAMA, BAHRAIN – 15 March 2016: Ithmaar Bank, a Bahrain-based Islamic retail bank, hosted a comprehensive in-house refresher training programme for its executive management team focusing on the latest international initiatives and global legislation that aim to counter money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism.
The annual training programme, which was conducted with a particular emphasis on the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CTF) regulations under the Financial Crime Module, aims to ensure Ithmaar Bank’s senior management completely understand and fully appreciate both the nature and the significance of Anti-Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing in the global financial industry.
In particular, the training programme aims to stress the importance of the executive management’s constant support to enforce compliance-related regulations to help effectively fight financial crimes.
The training programme, which was organised by the Ithmaar Bank Human Resources Department in-line with CBB directives, was delivered by Naeema Taheri, a programme facilitator with more than 23 years of both conventional and Islamic banking experience. The training programme was attended by more than twenty senior executives, including Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Abdul Rahim, Chief Operating Officer, Ravindra Knot, General Manager, Retail and Private Banking, Abdul Hakeem Al Mutawa, and General Manager, Banking Operations, Information Technology and Administration, Abdulrahman Al Shaikh.
“As one of the region’s pioneering Islamic retail banks, Ithmaar Bank recognises the important role we must play in contributing to the global fight against money laundering, financing of terrorism and other financial crimes,” said Abdul Rahim. “It is a responsibility we take very seriously and, working under the guidance of the CBB, the Kingdom’s banking and financial services regulator, we continue to do everything we can to help eliminate this global danger,” he said.
“The annual AML & CTF awareness training programme outlines the economic implications of Money Laundering and the various risks posed to Financial Institutions,” said Ithmaar Bank Head of Human Resources, Enas Rahimi. “The programme also highlights applicable sanctions and regulatory requirements, and reviews consequences of non-compliance by discussing specific case studies as well as other relevant supervision instructions and directives issued to financial institutions,” she said.