At
least staff of different commercial banks in The Gambia last Tuesday travelled
to Ghana where they will be participating in a capacity building training on Correspondence
Banking Compliance (CBC).
The
participants were nominated by the Gambia Bankers Association with funding from
the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
The
training will cover relevant modules such as compliance techniques and risk,
compliance and ML policy, correspondent banking, trade finance and risk
associated with new technologies.
Finance
and administration manager of Gambia
Bankers Association, Alagie Jeng said the training is intended for compliance and
trade finance professionals from independent banks of The Gambia, Ghana,
Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, who are unable to rely on the support of a
parent international bank.
According
to him, regulatory compliance poses considerable challenges to local banks in
their dealings with international partners. “Many banking institutions,
including those in the African jurisdiction, have seen correspondent banking
relationships and discontinued or seriously threatened by the imperative to
combat financial crime in the financial sector. These have direct and
detrimental impact on access to trade finance for SMEs and local corporates.”
He
challenged the eleven participants to take the training seriously and to share
the knowledge with colleagues when they return home.
He
commended the African Development Bank and financial Intelligence Unit for
being champions in taking lead in the organisation of the training.
Speaking
on behalf of the beneficiaries, Ebrima Ceesay thanked all stakeholders who
participated in making the event happen, saying the training will help them in
their banking activities as feature bankers.
