Our Purpose
Advising and supporting financial institutions in their interaction and connection with regulators as well as their own internal preparedness . The focus of this effort is to promote compliance leading to developing a positive relationship between both institution and regulator which engenders a collaborative approach in addressing and resolving regulatory issues.
This is further reinforced by future proofing compliance with both diagnostic and structural tools designed to provide the institution with control and build compliance into the institution’s DNA
Our Offerings
Regulatory Guidance and Compliance is likely to follow four critical phases. This can either be end-to-end covering all compliance risks or for targeted areas, such as AML/CFT
Fighting Financial Crime
- The Mena/FATF mutual evaluation published in April 2020 will significantly affect the lengths that institutions will be required to go to in undertaking due diligence.
- Consequently, AML/CFT compliance functions, in particular, will require widespread review and a likely upgrade. This burden will be significant, both in manpower terms as well as financial, and the probability that valuable money and time will be wasted without expert guidance is a certainty.
- Compliance will not be optional, nor will the ability to delay effective implementation. The UAE will have to introduce a transparent set of penalties, including financial ones, that will have to be enforced immediately.
- Athena has that rare combination of practical expertise and regulatory and infrastructure knowledge gained across the whole financial industry. We know how the UAE works and are committed to its success.
- Review of both chronic and newly identified regulatory compliance issues
- Alignment of those issues with the specific regulation and analysis of the technical requirements for compliance
- Prioritizing and then designing work plans to address immediate issues particularly those that relate to prudential ratios, asset quality and governance.
- Provide advice and participate in engaging the regulator to establish a dialogue and involve the regulator in the initiative at an early stage.
- Adapt the compliance plan to include any further concerns raised by the regulator
- Preparation of a broad overview of the compliance strategy for the board of directors, provide feed back for the regulators and get buy-in
- Introduction of a holistic plan aimed at improving governance, as a whole, within the institution
- Recommendation of specific steps that should be taken to improve the robustness of the institution regardless of the demands made by the regulator in compliance terms
- Proactively engage with all parties to communicate the strategy in order to engender transparency in the relationship.
- Identifying structures within the institution based on the three lines of defence
- Assessing the universe of regulations, laws and government requirements that apply to the institution
- Assigning specific responsibilities for compliance to individuals across the institution
- Supervising the roll out of the identified initiatives
- Testing compliance across all three lines of defence
- Ongoing management of the external relationships essential for the smooth operation of the institution
