Shumul Bank has adopted a set of policies and procedures within its program to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, because the compliance monitoring function is considered one of the most important foundations and factors for the success of banks and one of the mechanisms of good corporate governance, as it plays a fundamental role in meeting legal and regulatory requirements, protecting the bank’s resources and reputation, and providing protection from sanctions.
The bank’s policy is primarily based on compliance with anti-money laundering laws and regulations on its activities and applies the best local and international standards in the field of combating various financial crimes.
Compliance is a comprehensive and multi-faceted responsibility, and falls on all parties in banks, starting with the board of directors and senior management and ending with all employees, each according to his powers and assigned tasks.
The bank’s policies primarily define clear procedures related to applying best practices to identify, determine and verify the identity of customers, and to identify the nature of the activities practiced by the customer and the sources of his funds, in addition to conducting continuous monitoring of customer transactions and activities through follow-up, monitoring and reporting suspicious cases to the competent regulatory authorities for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
To achieve the above, Shumul Bank established a special department for the Compliance Unit pursuant to the Board of Directors’ decision dated 1/January/2023 AD, which enjoys complete independence and special responsibilities to implement policies and procedures related to compliance requirements, combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, codes of conduct and standards of sound practices, identify, assess and monitor non-compliance risks, provide advice and guidance to address them and submit the necessary reports regarding compliance to the Board of Directors and senior management.
To enhance the efficiency of the Bank’s program to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the Bank provides the necessary and continuous training for its employees in a manner that is consistent with the nature of their job duties and enhances their ability to carry out their responsibilities towards implementing the Bank’s policies and procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Therefore, the Board of Directors of Shumul Bank decided to approve the Compliance Guidelines Manual based on a set of laws and instructions related to combating money laundering and terrorist financing in accordance with Law No. (1) of 2010 and its amendments issued by Law No. 17 of 2013, which stipulates that all financial institutions operating in the Republic of Yemen must have procedures and rules based on the principle of Know Your Customer and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as adherence to the instructions and regulatory controls issued by the Central Bank of Yemen No. (1) of 2012 and the periodic circular on the basic indicators of suspicion of money laundering and terrorist financing No. (2) of 2012, and to confirm Shumul Bank’s commitment to these laws, the bank has established policies and procedures to combat money laundering activities, and monitor the implementation of the aforementioned policies and procedures. These policies cover the work procedures of all the bank’s various units and branches. Based on Shumul Bank’s commitment to the laws and instructions of Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism requirements, Shumul Bank is keen to promote the values of transparency and integrity in all its activities. To this end, the Bank’s Board of Directors has issued the “Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Policy Guide”, which includes a set of instructions that are consistent with the regulations of the Central Bank of Yemen and the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, and various relevant international recommendations. It contains the following: