An international team begins to liberate the Iraqi banking sector from “isolation” from Kurdistan
Banks Economy News — Baghdad An international team of experts working in the US Treasury Department began to develop a new roadmap to liberate the Iraqi banking sector from "isolation" and apply money laundering standards, with the participation of the Kurdistan Regional Commercial Bank (RTB), which held the first meeting of its new Board…
BanksEconomy News — BaghdadAn international team of experts working in the US Treasury Department began to develop a new roadmap to liberate the Iraqi banking sector from “isolation” and apply money laundering standards, with the participation of the Kurdistan Regional Commercial Bank (RTB), which held the first meeting of its new Board of Directors, as the first local bank in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to implement an international management system in a move that will enhance banking confidence in the region. “The council will be chaired by Marshall Billingsley, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and former President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” the bank said in a statement, noting that “the Financial Action Task Force includes a global body that prioritizes anti-money laundering and supporting terrorism standards. ”He explained that “the team also includes a number of prominent figures, such as Grigory Gatianis, former Deputy Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); Else Zentina, former head of the Latvian Financial Intelligence Unit and adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission; as well as Jorge Jiménez, an expert in the US Federal Payments System, and the Council also includes Hashem Hammandi, Bassel Kevan, Adnan Kviet, and Colonel Hijazi. Administratively, Yilmaz Ogur Eye, who has more than twenty years of experience in the Iraqi and Turkish financial markets, will take over the day-to-day management as CEO. He explained that “the presence of this strong team of experts from the US Treasury Department and international institutions will open new horizons for the Iraqi banking sector, and free it from the financial isolation it has suffered for years. ”He pointed out that “this radical change may occur in three main dimensions and a radical shift in Iraq’s economic equation. First, strengthening the bank itself, as RTB raises its internal regulatory system, risk management, and financial infrastructure to the level of international banks, which ensures its protection from money laundering risks and compliance with international standards, and second, openness to the global financial system. Achieving this level of trust paves the way for correspondent banking services with major US and European banks, a step that reduces import and export costs for local companies, facilitates the movement of funds, and third, attracts foreign investment. When international companies see a local bank managed according to the highest international standards, their demand for investment in Iraq and the Kurdistan region increases. ”It is worth mentioning that the Regional Commercial Bank has been restricting its banking services since July 2001, and established its headquarters in Erbil in September 2003. It is licensed and registered with the Central Bank of Iraq, and has not been subject to any banking sanctions since 2001. https://www. economy-news. net/content. php?id=70859