Over 400 pre-qualified senior delegates from the governance, risk and compliance community, in addition to regional and international regulators will come together for the 7th GCC Regulators’ Summit in Doha hosted by Thomson Reuters.

The event which begins today is being held in association with the Qatar Central Bank, Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority and the Qatar Financial Markets Authority.

The two day summit takes place under the patronage of Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saoud Al-Thani, the governor of the Qatar Central Bank and chairman of the QFC Regulatory Authority and Qatar Financial Markets Authority.

The GCC Regulators' Summit remains the Middle East's premier event on the topics of regulation, compliance, risk and governance, providing a perfect platform for regulators and financial professionals to meet and discuss challenges, propose solutions and share best practice in a unique conference experience, a statement from the organisers said.

The summit will cover key themes including the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), harmonised regional regulatory approaches, risk management, anti-money laundering, international sanctions, data security, new international core principles (Basel III, IAIS, Iosco), and GCC securities activities and trends.

"Cooperation amongst GCC regulators is now a crucial need especially as we move forward with addressing loopholes in the GCC financial and business regulatory frameworks,” Sheikh Abdullah said.

“The financial system in Qatar has made landmark achievements in the past few years. We have already established a national credit centre, launched a financial assessment and evaluation institution, and issued a new resolution by the Qatar Central Bank to enhance financial stability.”

“Total assets managed by the Qatar commercial banks have increased by 18 per cent to reach QR817 billion ($224.3 billion) in 2012 and QR828 billion by the end of January. Customer deposits increased by 26 per cent to reach QR458 billion in 2012, while credit line facility grew by 27 per cent to QR477 billion.”

Basil Moftah, managing director, Middle East, Africa and Russia /CIS, said: “It is vital that we contribute to enhance confidence around transparency, governance and investor protection in the GCC's financial markets.”

“To this end, the GCC Regulators' Summit is the region's landmark forum for the financial compliance community. The summit provides a networking and discussion platform for authorities, practitioners, advisors and market participants. High-caliber speakers will share their knowledge, experience and best practices on the crucial issues facing the financial services industry.”

“Thomson Reuters dynamically connects strategy, operations, and business transactions to the ever-changing regulatory environment, enabling firms in the GCC to accelerate while identifying and managing risks,” he added. “Our governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions connect over 125,000 users and more than 300 regulators and enforcement agencies around the globe.”

Delegates will discuss emergent regulatory trends during the first day including the effect of Arab Spring, the GCC unified regulatory approaches, and the new rules, regulations and supervisory initiatives to govern securities.

The first day will also feature discussion about the impact of extraterritorial legislation, the new developments in global banking regulations, building a compliance culture, and corporate governance in the GCC, the statement said.

On the second day, Daniel Gallagher, commissioner, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, will deliver a keynote speech followed by four sessions focusing on supervision of capital markets and exchanges, enforcement, anti-money laundering and due diligence, and sanctions compliance in response to continuous change.

Among the top speakers at the conference are Michael Ryan, CEO, Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority; Abdullah Al Salmi, executive president, Capital Market Authority, Sultanate of Oman; Dr Ashraf Elsharkawy, chairman, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority; Ian Johnston, chief executive, Dubai Financial Services Authority; Dr Ibrahim Turhan, chairman and CEO, Borsa Istanbul & president, Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchange; and Tajinder Singh, deputy secretary general, The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco). – TradeArabia News Service