The criticality of sanctions to the armoury of international relations has been amplified over the past decade as geopolitical and trade tensions have intensified.
Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its attempted full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, governments around the world have increased sanctions on nations and entities by 700%, according to the Sanctioned Securities Monitoring Service from SIX (SSMS), which assesses the exposure risks of more than 130,000 funds and ETFs and 30 million-plus financial instruments.
In that period, a barrage of punitive actions under existing anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism funding frameworks as well as new sanctions have been deployed in heavy measure.
This has created a complex landscape for banks and financial institutions worldwide as regulatory frameworks have responded, and compliance has become increasingly fragmented and complicated – requiring robust mechanisms and continuous monitoring.Deep Dive
As financial institutions strive to adapt to the new sanctions risk environment, A-Team LIVE will host a webinar of experts who will examine the underpinnings of the global trends that are causing the surge in sanctions and also discuss at length the technological and data solutions that are helping institutions comply with them.
Panellists on the November 5 webinar, which is entitled Navigating a Complex World: Best Data Practices in Sanctions Screening, will comprise Gaelle Maquignon, ITC and Economic Sanctions Lead at Swiss Re; Harsh Shah, Managing Director (Financial Crimes Technology and Analytics) at Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics; and Oliver Bodmer, Product Management Director at SIX.
Data Management Insight editor Mark McCord will moderate the discussion.
“The sheer speed and complexity of sanctions today mean financial institutions need partners they can rely on,”, Bodmer at SIX, which is also the event’s sponsor, told Data Management Insight.
Countries, companies and individuals have been caught in the sanctions net, especially the lieutenants and associates of sanctioned political and business leaders, placed on watchlists and blacklists for their involvement in, or connection to, proscribed people and states.
Increased Complexity
The risk that banks and other financial institutions can inadvertently engage with sanctioned securities has never been higher, especially with the explosion in popularity of exchange-traded funds, which are vehicles that enable investors to take positions in hundreds or thousands of securities. This has raised the stakes for compliance teams. Failure to effectively screen can lead to severe financial penalties as well as reputational damage.
However, with the right tools and proactive monitoring, banks can navigate these challenges confidently, the webinar will discuss.
Automation of screening processes is improving organizations’ ability to identify and prevent interactions with proscribed parties. As well, it’s reducing the number of false positives generated in their screening sweeps, meaning professionals can get on with the important job of dealing with real threats.
The webinar coincides with the publication of a white paper by SIX – and published by A-Team Group – that highlights the importance of understanding and adapting to these changes while also explaining the critical role that data can play in solving for the compliance challenge.
- A-Team Group webinar Navigating a Complex World: Best Data Practices in Sanctions Screening takes place on November 5 at 10:00am ET; 3:00pm London; and, 4:00pm CET. Click here to register your attendance.
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