Financial crime compliance solutions ensure that local banks can fight AML/CFT threats in real-time and better support economic growth

ISLAMABAD,PAKISTAN / SINGAPORE - MediaOutReach - 7 July 2020 - Accuity, the leadingprovider of financial crime screening, payment services, and counterpartyknow-your-customer (KYC) solutions, today announced how leading banks across Pakistan,including HabibMetroBank, Sindh Bank Limited, and Askari Bank Limited, are using Accuity solutions tomeet ever increasing regulatory requirements. Having supported more than 40% ofPakistan's banking and financial services institutions over the past decade, Accuity continuesto work closely to enhance the sector's ability to meet their local and internationalAnti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing ofTerrorism (CFT) obligations.

Pakistan has been making progress in meeting the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) 27-point compliance requirements. By meeting this global standard,Pakistan aims to strengthen its fight against money laundering and terroristfinancing and at the same time boost its economy by positioning itself as aregional financial and exports hub.

"Accuity has helpedcontribute to the efforts of the Pakistan government and State Bank of Pakistanto establish a strong system to combat money laundering and terroristfinancing," said Bharath Vellore, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Accuity."With our best-in-class financial crime screening and compliance solutions, ourcustomers in Pakistan across banking, microfinance and insurance areconfidently offering financial products and services to meet the levels ofcompliance required by global, regional and local regulators  They are now in a better position to acceleratecross-border trade volumes, enable remittances from its large diaspora, drivefinancial inclusion, and provide small and medium enterprise credit."

Establishing Global Banking Relationships to Serve the World's Seventh LargestDiaspora

HabibMetroBank is a subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich (HBZ) -- a Swiss multinationalbank with operations in nine countries. Due to its international presence andmultiple correspondent banking relations, HabibMetro must perform due diligenceon its correspondent banks in a timely manner, as per the guidelines from FATFand the Wolfsberg Group.

To do so,HabibMetro uses the Bankers Almanac solution from Accuity, includingthe Due Diligence module, to conduct KYC due diligencechecks when increasing its correspondent banking footprint in othergeographies. BankersAlmanac provides a single and consistent source of truth for information onover 21,500 banks, providing supporting documentation for due diligence checks,and allowing the Bank to more effectively manage its financial counterparty KYCand mitigate any associated risks.

"Bankers Almanac helps HabibMetro to comprehensively manage our periodic financial counterpartyreviews and onboard new financial counterparties more efficiently, with theclick of a button," said Farooq Ahsanuddin, Head of Financial Institutions& Remittances at Habib Metropolitan Bank. "Thesecapabilities allow us to increase the productivity of our financial servicesteam and streamline our banking operations, while delivering unparalleledservice to our customers worldwide."

Real Time ScreeningCapabilities to Meet Compliance Mandates and Drive Financial Inclusion

Sindh Bank Limited is a government-ownedPakistani scheduled bank with 330 branches in 169 cities nationwide. Toeffectively manage its AML and CFT compliance checks, identify politicallyexposed persons (PEP), and deter proscribed persons from engaging in illicitfinancial activities, the bank adopted FircoCompliance Link and FircoGlobal WatchList^® solutions to demonstrate enhanced screeningcapabilities and processes to local regulators. It is also using Bankers Almanac to providesupporting documentation for due diligence checks.

"The bank's abilityto have a consolidatedview of all accounts and transactions activities, conduct on-going andautomated screening, coupled with comprehensive audit trails to the regulators,is fundamentalin ensuring that our branch network both meets compliance mandates andpromotes economic development," said Mr. Imran Samad, President and CEO ofSindh Bank Limited. "We have chosen to partner with Accuity for itssophisticated, intelligent and automated approach, speeding up operations andimproving our services to our valued customers. This in turn gives us morecapacity to innovate and help drive financial inclusion."

Setting StrongControls on Exports with an Advanced Trade Compliance Solution

Askari Bank Limited isa commercial and retail bank in Pakistan that implemented Firco Compliance Linkin 2018 to manage risks related to trade-based money laundering and terroristfinancing. This solution brings together proprietary data, on-groundintelligence, and regulatory compliance expertise that allows the bank tocentralize its screening processes against trade transactions involvingsanctioned individuals, entities, vessels, ports,and dual-use and controlled goods(DUG).

"By offering anenterprise-wide, single screening solution, Accuity is covering seven differentapplications of the bank that are mostly integrated for the purpose ofperforming real-time screening for accounts, payments and trade transactions.Accuity is able to meet all our compliance and business requirements, therebysafeguarding the bank from any regulatory or reputational risks," said Mr.Ali Raza Zaidi, Chief Compliance Officer, Askari BankLimited. "This allows Askari Bank Limitedto maintain our position as the local standard bearer in proactively meetingthe highest trade compliance requirements, while ensuring innovation."

More informationon the Accuity portfolio of financial crime screening and payment services solutionscan be found here: https://accuity.com/what-we-do/overview

About Accuity:

Accuity offers a suiteof innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals, fromcomprehensive data and software that manage risk and compliance, to flexibletools that optimise payments pathways. With deep expertise and industry-leadingdata-enabled solutions from the Fircosoft, Bankers Almanac and NRS brands, theAccuity portfolio delivers protection for individual and organisationalreputations.

Part of RELX,a global provider of information and analytics for professional and businesscustomers across industries, Accuity has been delivering solutions to banks andbusinesses worldwide for 180 years.