ADCB, First Gulf Bank prominent among them
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and First Gulf Bank are among six leading UAE banks that have signed up to implement anti-money laundering (AML) and straight through processing (STP) solutions from ACE Software, a leading provider of intelligent payment solutions for the financial sector.
"Even though there is no particular regulatory environment in the region, banks here are increasingly driven by pressure from their global counterparts to be compliant with the regulatory standards. Six leading banks from the UAE have already signed up for our software solutions, including ADCB and First Gulf Bank," Tim Dawes, commercial director of ACE Software Solutions, told The Business Weekly. "The other four banks have not given me the go-ahead to publicize their names," he added.
Dawes said banks that have not implemented such solutions should feel exposed. He recalled that recently ABN Amro was fined $80 million for violating US anti-money laundering laws.
ACE Software offers a range of specially designed payment solutions for banks and corporate houses. Its 'AML Toolkit' provides effective anti-money laundering measures, using sophisticated fraud and compliance message filtering. It checks transactions against lists officially sanctioned by the United States' Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the United Nations to identify suspicious activity. The system intelligently captures suspicious patterns in customers' behaviour that could be part of an illegal activity.
In the UAE, ACE is represented by Intertec Systems, a leading IT solutions provider with clients across the GCC and India. "Intertec is going to take us to other Gulf countries. We are talking to banks that are quite successful in the region, yet haven't engaged the AML solutions at all," he said.
Dawes said his company provides software for big corporate houses as well. "We are seeing considerable increase in interest because a number of companies within the Middle East now operate globally and need a high level of security. Banks have put together a system and installed sophisticated software to meet their clients' requirements."
Naresh Kothari, managing director, Intertec Systems recently said, "There is a definite demand for payment and AML solutions in the region and we see a huge scope for ACE's solutions here."
Worldwide client base of ACE Software includes BNP Paribas, CommerzBank, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, RBC Dexia, State Bank of India, Standard Chartered, Toronto Dominion and UBOC. The company is headquartered in New Jersey with regional offices in London, Brussels, Oslo and Mumbai.
ACE Software and Intertec Systems showcased its leading edge payment and anti-money laundering solutions at the 'Payments Middle East' event held in Dubai last week.
By Pradeep Palat
© The Business Weekly 2007
