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gatherings
19 February - 20 February 2008
The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain

Programme - Day 1

Tuesday, February 19

8:00am Registration
09:00am Welcome Note
Alex Robson, Editorial Director, Complinet Ltd
09:10am Official opening
His Excellency Rasheed Al-Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain
09:20am
Keynote speech
Jane Diplock, Chairman, Executive Committee, International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Chairman, New Zealand Securities Commission
09:45am
Panel session one: Regulatory standards and objectives - what are the challenges and opportunities?
  • What is the view in the GCC of international best practice and mainstream regulatory standards?
  • What are the challenges of and opportunities in the application of those standards?
  • What is the outlook for a common approach to these issues and what are the implications for regulatory cooperation?

Moderated by:

Khalid Hamad, Executive Director, Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain, Chairman of the International Islamic Financial market (IIFM)

Speakers:

Khalid Hamad, Executive Director, Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain, Chairman of the International Islamic Financial market (IIFM)
Phillip Thorpe, Chairman and Chief Executive, Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA)
Turki Al-Malik, Head of Authorization, Capital Market Authority Saudi Arabia
Michael Zamorski, Managing Director, Supervision, Dubai Financial Services Authority
10:45am
Sponsored by
Morning coffee
11:15am
Panel Session two: Capital Market Regulations — The way forward
  • What are the supervisory and legal challenges?
  • How should the institutional development of the market be strengthened?
  • How efficient are the rules for IPOs? How can the quality of listed companies be improved? How can their operations be standardized?
  • Do audit standards need to be improved?

Moderated by:

Aryan Schoorl, Senior Counsel, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Speakers:
Paul Andrews, Vice President and Managing Director, FINRA International
Aryan Schoorl, Senior Counsel, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Maryam Al-Suwaidi, Director, Issuance and Disclosure Department, Emirates Securities & Commodities Authority
Dr Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Khalaf, Commissioner, Capital Markets Authority, Saudi Arabia
12:00pm
Panel Session three: Basel II
  • What are the difficulties of implementing Basel II in a regional environment? What is the timeline?
  • Are banks ready for risk management assessments and advanced measurement approaches?
  • How have GCC central banks responded to the challenge?

Moderated by:

Richard Ellis, Adviser Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain

Speakers:

Richard Ellis, Senior Advisor, Central Bank of Bahrain
Michael Zamorski, Managing Director, Supervision, Dubai Financial Services Authority
Stephen Williams, Executive Vice President, Gulf International Bank
12:45pm
Sponsored by
Lunch
2:00pm
Panel Session four: Training and education initiatives
  • What are the principles of competence? How can firms best assess performance?
  • What are the competencies and skills required to meet both business and regulatory objectives?
  • How do firms demonstrate that competence has been achieved and maintained?

Moderated by:

Paul Andrews, Vice President and Managing Director, FINRA International

Speakers:

Paul Andrews, Vice President and Managing Director, FINRA International
Ruth Martin, Managing Director, Securities & Investment Institute
David Cafferty, Regional Director Middle East, International Compliance Association
2.45pm
Panel session five: Corporate governance framework for regional development
  • What are the challenges in improving corporate governance standards across the GCC?
  • How does one create the best corporate governance structure? What is the role of firms, boards and senior executives? How valid is the principle of comply or explain?
  • What role do regulators have in the process?

Moderated By:

Jan Babiak, Managing Partner, Regulatory & Public Policy, Ernst & Young

Speakers:

Gary Long, President & Chief Operating Officer, Investcorp
Mark Beer, Vice President Government Relations & Corporate Services, MasterCard Worldwide
Shahram Safai, Partner, Afridi & Angell
3.30pm
Sponsored by
Afternoon tea
4.00pm
Panel session six: Operational risk and counter-money laundering - adapting international standards to regional conditions
  • What are the significant risks for the GCC?
  • How can banks identify and best manage those risks?
  • The US approach and issues of extraterritoriality

Moderated By:

Niall Coburn, Head Of Corporate Governance, Al-Khaliji Commercial Bank

Speakers:

Austin Wiehe, Attaché, U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
Michael Matossian, Global Head of Group Regulatory Compliance, Arab Bank Plc
4:45pm
Special Address: Major retail banking issues and the challenges for banks and regulators
  • Conduct of business, sales practices and customer complaints
  • Regulatory and compliance issues related to marketing, offerings and allocation of new issues

Presentation by:

Yousif Hassan, Director of Retail Banking Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain
5.05pm
Panel session seven: Leveraging Information Technology for Automated Regulatory Reporting and Data Analysis
  • How the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission uses interactive data to transform the review and analysis of financial information for the benefit of investors and public companies alike
  • Why central banks are embracing automated regulatory reporting and how the improved analysis capabilities help them regulate their markets better – Case study: How the Central Bank of Jamaica has successfully implemented automated reporting
  • What does it take for regulators to automate regulatory reporting, what has been accomplished to-date, how it can be leveraged and what policies need to be in place?

Moderated by:

Thomas Beyer, Managing Director, Global Public Services BearingPoint

Speakers:

Thomas Beyer, Managing Director, Global Public Services BearingPoint
Meraj Ahmed, Partner, Head of Technology & Security Risk Services,Ernst & Young Middle East
Michael Zamorski, Managing Director, Supervision, Dubai Financial Services Authority
5:35pm
Closing remarks and end of day one
6.40pm
Coaches/buses from the Ritz Carlton to the Formula 1 race track
7.15pm
Cocktail reception
Courtesy of the Bahrain Financial Services Development
8.30pm
Gala dinner
Courtesy of the Bahrain Financial Services Development
View Day 2 Programme
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