ICC Qatar, Refinitiv hold webinar on ‘Third-Party Risk Compliance in Qatar’

The International Chamber of Commerce Qatar (ICC Qatar), in collaboration with Refinitiv, recently held a webinar on ‘AML & Third-Party Risk Compliance in the Corporate & Financial Sectors in Qatar’.
The webinar saw keynote presentations from Mohamed Daoud, global expert and adviser in Financial Crime Compliance, CompliRight UK, and Thibault Pinson, Solutions consultant and Enhance Due Diligence specialist, Refinitiv.
The webinar highlighted the potential risk that arises from corporate and financial organisations relying on third parties to perform different services on their behalf, requirements of due diligence regulatory compliance, and ways to effectively manage this escalating and inherent reputation risk posed by third-party relationships.
The virtual event was attended by bank representatives, legal experts, and many private companies, including insurance companies and exchange firms.
Daoud said, “Today, the use of a third-party is a common business practice, where financial institutions and companies that delegate part of their own work are required to truly know and screen these suppliers, vendors, agents, distributors and other business counterparties.
“This is mainly to avoid the association with those who could be sanctioned or involved in potential money laundering, bribery, corruption, terrorism financing, modern-day slavery, and environmental crime, to name a few. Thus, ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) or your third-party, performing sanctions screening and subscribing to an ‘Enhanced Due Diligence’ (EDD) services has become an upmost requirement.”
Pinson added: “In addition to the compliance requirements, with the Covid-19 outbreak, many businesses facing supply chain disruptions acknowledged their overreliance on few providers and vendors.
“As companies look to further diversify their sourcing strategy towards new jurisdictions, companies should ensure an adequate level of due diligence is applied to prospective partners to protect their business from reputational risks and secure business continuity.”
Sheikha Tamader al-Thani, director of International Relations and Chamber Affairs of Qatar Chamber and ICC Qatar, thanked the attendees for their engagement and the speakers for offering valuable insights. She also reinforced the importance of being cognizant of the legitimacy of third-party businesses and how they are operating.  “Fortunately, there is a surplus of watchlists, which could be used to determine the legitimacy of third-parties’ business activities to prevent hurting the reputation of your business,” said Sheikha Tamader, who also encouraged the private sector to take preventative measures and underscored that “it is essential to prioritise due diligence and not underplay its importance."