Compliance is the name of the day

Armenia
Along with the Central Bank of Armenia, ICC Armenia and Argos Advisory, we organised a two-day workshop on compliance in Dilijan, Armenia, held on 30 November 30 and 1 December 2023.  

The session was facilitated by Martial N Smets of Argos Advisory, and addressed various aspects of compliance, including international sanctions risk, regulatory frameworks, correspondent banking, financial crime compliance, and trade-based money laundering, illustrated through real-life case studies.  

As part of the workshop, the EBRD’s Adam Lewis enlightened the audience about the EBRD’s compliance approach, followed by key highlights from the United States Treasury regarding the Office of Foreign Assets Control programme and a presentation from the National Bank of Georgia on regulatory enforcement in Georgia.  

The event attracted more than 60 professionals from the Armenian banking sector, who had been welcomed by Armen Nurbekyan, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia; Anna Khachatryan, an Associate Director at the EBRD; and Innesa Amirbekyan, Chair of the ICC Banking Commission Armenia. 

Georgia 
A few days later we were in Georgia, where we teamed up with the National Bank of Georgia, ICC Georgia and Argos Advisory to deliver the same workshop on 4 and 5 December 2023.  

On the first day, Davit Tutberidze, Head of the Macroeconomics Research Division at the National Bank of Georgia, presented macroeconomic updates, and Eka Goglidze, Head of Division for International Sanctions’ Implementation and Inspection from the National Bank of Georgia, updated participants on the local regulatory changes to mitigate the current environment. This was followed by a presentation from Martial N Smets on global regulatory changes and circumvention risks, local regulatory changes, and preventive measures by, and then a presentation by Adam Lewis on the EBRD’s compliance approach. A panel discussion on business trends and shifts in international trade in 2023 concluded the day. 

The second day delved into the banking control framework on financial crime compliance and relevant typologies on international sanctions, supported by a thorough review of business cases.  

The workshop saw really positive engagement from more than 60 professionals from the Georgian banking sector and their corporate clients, who had been welcomed to the event by Alkis Drakinos, Regional Director at the EBRD, Sophia Asanidze, acting head of the AML/CTF Department at the National Bank of Georgia, and Fady Asly, Chairman of the Regional Consultative Group at the ICC Banking Commission Georgia.