Oman Arab Bank Hosts IIF CRO Forum

Muscat, April 24, 2018: Oman Arab Bank (OAB), one of the country’s leading financial institutions, recently hosted the IIF Middle East and Africa Chief Risk Officer Forum. The forum brought together risk officers from IIF member financial institutions across the Middle East and Africa region to exchange ideas and valuable insights on key current topics in risk and their implications for the region.

The closed-door event was hosted by OAB in partnership with the Institute of International Finance (IIF) at Grand Hyatt Muscat on April 23. AlSalt Al Kharusi, Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking of OAB, and Martin Boer, Director of Regulatory Affairs at IIF oversaw the event. Also in attendance was Lamees Al Baharna, Chief Risk Officer of OAB, together with other CROs from other leading banks in the region.

AlSalt Al Kharusi opened the meeting with a welcome speech, in which he touched upon OAB’s rapid growth in recent years and the reason for hosting the event. AlSalt said, “As technology advances so has the risk landscape. As a result, building a solid risk management framework has been a core focus of our ongoing bank transformation strategy over the past four years. Events such as these help facilitate the sharing of knowledge while also providing an avenue through which we could explore common issues and challenges faced, as well as discuss effective solutions; thereby contributing to the development of the sector as a whole.”

Commenting on the meeting, Lamees Al Baharna said, “The meeting focused primarily on current issues affecting the region, such as the benefits and risks associated with machine learning, the challenges involved in establishing a robust framework for IFRS 9, and the impact of digitisation on current risk management procedures. The event also allowed us facilitate the sharing of ideas and best practices, whilst also enhancing the cooperation between various IIF members in the region.”

In addition, the event, which saw the participation of CROs from Banks and financial institutions from the MENA region, included several detailed panel discussions, an overview of global regulatory reforms from IIF, and more.

“Events such as these vital to the overall development of the financial sector in the region and we are honoured to be partnered with IIF in the hosting one of such significance,” added AlSalt.

The Institute of International Finance is the global association of the financial industry, with close to 450 members from 70 countries. Its mission is to support the financial industry in the prudent management of risks; to develop sound industry practices; and to advocate for regulatory, financial and economic policies that are in the broad interests of its members and foster global financial stability and sustainable economic growth. IIF members include commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, central banks and development banks.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman, with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 148 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB provides the complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate and investment clients.