BBAC s.a.l. purchases IDOM Middle East's anti-money laundering software solution

Fakhruddin Khalil, Chairman of IDOM Middle East, said, "Financial institutions are realizing the intrinsic correlation between compliance and reputational risk. In the highly competitive environment for market share, institutions simply cannot risk the damage to reputation and client trust that result from financial abuse and illicit activity. It became quite evident to BBAC that they needed to institute an automated solution for its efforts in preventing money laundering to ultimately uphold its highly regarded status within the banking community."

The AML-Reporter software compares expected account activity against actual transactions and is extremely efficient in the detection of suspicious activities to help to prevent money laundering in financial institutions. This software solution maintains internal audit trails and is used to assist banks in implementing the recommendations of international anti-money laundering publications from FATF (Financial Action Task Force) and the Basel Committee, as well as being instrumental in meeting specific monitoring requirements for compliance with local Central banks' anti-money laundering regulations.

"We wanted to enhance our AML compliance capabilities and felt that IDOM Middle East's AML-Reporter solution would complement our current control systems to better position us in meeting the growing AML monitoring demands expected from both local and international regulators," stated Talal Abu Zaki, Manager Compliance & Reconciliation of BBAC. "In turn, by deploying such automated safeguard, we are confident that we will soon realize the benefits automation can provide to streamline current monitoring procedures as well as to help minimize reputational risks."

BBAC is a commercial bank that was established in 1956 by its three founding members and offers a wide range of consumer and commercial products and services. BBAC's capital was increased progressively from LBP 5 million to reach LBP 72 billion in 1999. This is due to the bank's growing activities, its geographical expansion and the reinforcement of its standing as a leading Lebanese bank. Additionally, BBAC is a member in the association of the Lebanese banks as well as in the Union of the Arab Banks.