ABOUT ACOB

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After the success story of the common KYC form and the Software, Compliance officers felt the need to continue with the forum in a more formal manner by expanding its scope beyond AML compliance to all aspects of regulatory compliance, in order to face the emerging challenge of the ever-increasing regulatory horizon. It was unanimously agreed that sharing of experiences would help the effectiveness of the compliance function which would in turn support betterment of the industry and aspire objectives of the regulators. Thus in March 2010, the Association of Compliance Officers of Banks was formed as a more formal association with the following main objectives;

• Provide a forum to promote common understanding among Compliance Officers on regulations.
• Share experiences and knowledge across banks in building an effective compliance systems and procedures.
• Plan and organize training programs in the field of compliance.
• To reach a consensus among the membership, with regard to the approach to be taken with the regulators when negotiating and conducting ongoing dialogue.

Mr. Prasanna Kannangara was elected as the first president of the Association and established several key posts which wer to be elected each year at the Annual General Meeting. A formal constitution was drafted, agreed and adopted to formalize its functions in a more transparent manner. In the year 2012, members of the Association agreed that in order to further strengthen the association and achieve its objectives effectively, it was required to raise funds. Thus, the association decided to collect an annual membership fee from its members.  This was favorably accepted by Banks and presently almost all of the Local Licensed Commercial Banks, Licensed Specialized Banks and branches of Foreign Banks are members of the Association.

Since its initial formation to the present, following are the key highlights of the Association.

• Organizing monthly meetings for the membership to discuss and share compliance experiences
• Organizing guest lectures by eminent speakers on Exchange Control, Related Party Transactions, FATCA, General Compliance and AML compliance, such as Mr. Manil Jayasinghe – Partner E&Y, Ms. Pavithri Viathanage – Director ECD (then), Mr. Anath Krishnan – Regional Head Training SCB
• Successfully negotiating with FIU on amendments to the KYC gazette issued in March 2011.
• Invited to represent the Banking industry for the FATF country evaluation.
• Time-to-time discussions with the CBSL departments such as Bank Supervision, Exchange Control, FIU etc.
• Paving the way for industry discussion on FATCA compliance and arranging a shared consultancy for majority of the member banks.
• Arranging sessions for compliance officers regarding different software tools that support effective compliance function through technology.
• Presently converging on a fully-fledged risk-based compliance program training for the Compliance Officers, as required under Basel Recommendations.

Compliance in the Banking Sector has endured a formal status within Banks, and Compliance Officers have been identified to be among the key executive functions within the bank which emphasizes the vital importance placed in this function. Challenges posed by ever-expanding regulations that reach far beyond national territories, meeting expectations of regulators and striking the balance between compliance and business is becoming a daunting task for Compliance Officers. Thus, it is essential that, in order to have an effective Compliance Function, sharing experiences, enhancing knowledge on international best practices, continuous dialogue with all stakeholders is vital at industry level. In this regard, the Association of Compliance Officers of Banks has taken few steps and will continue to march on as a team within the industry to build effective compliance cultures within each bank.