2017 Chinese Financial Institutions’ Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance Forum In New York

Share this article

Expanding regulations in the United States and other global financial hubs and the continued use of economic sanctions are putting financial institutions on the front lines of law enforcement and the implementation of government policy. Financial institutions around the world face significant challenges in maintaining effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing, and economic sanctions compliance programs. Chinese financial institutions have invested significant resources to understand the impact of new regulations and to improve their financial crime compliance controls.
Under these circumstances, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) and EY Financial Services Office co-hosted the 2017 Financial Institutions’ Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Compliance Forum on December 12th, 2017 in New York.
This forum was intended to provide insight to senior executives including General Managers and Deputy General Managers, Chief Risk Officers, General Counsels, Chief Compliance Officers, Chief BSA/AML Officers and Chief Technology Officers of the US branches of Chinese Financial institutions. Key event agenda included three panel discussions with lunch and social at the end where forum participants networked with peers from other financial institutions and their risk and compliance professionals.
The event was well attended by over 70 senior AML, sanctions and compliance professionals from 13 Chinese financial institutions operating in the US, including all the major state-owned Chinese banks.
Guest panelists from law firm Paul, Weiss joined EY speakers for the panel discussions. The panelists had previously held senior positions at US regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency among others, as well as executive positions at major financial institutions.

Key Event Highlights:
The Chairman of CGCC and President and CEO of Bank of China USA, Mr. Chen Xu opened the forum by highlighting the significance of the event and welcomed the panelists and the participants from the Chinese financial institutions.

Chen Xu, Chairman of China General Chamber of Commerce. President and CEO of Bank of China USA

Dr. Qingji Yang provided an overview of the event objectives, introduced the agenda of the forum and thanked the audience and event sponsors, planning team for their supports.

Dr. Qingji Yang，Head of Financial Services Risk Management of the Americas, Ernst & Young LLP

In the first panel, EY US Financial Services Principal and Regulatory Compliance leader Michael Patterson moderated the “FinCrime/sanctions governance, regulations and supervisions” discussion, joined by EY US Financial Services Senior Advisor of banking supervision and regulatory matters Don Vangel, EY Principal of Financial Crime Practice Steve Beattie and EY Executive Director Scott Waterhouse. The group shared insights around the importance of strong governance within the risk management function of a financial institution and how the culture of compliance should permeate throughout and institution.

Michael Patterson, US Financial Services Principal and regulatory compliance leader, Ernst & Young LLP; Don Vangel, US Financial Services senior advisor of banking supervision and regulatory matters, Ernst & Young LLP; Scott Waterhouse, Executive Director, Ernst & Young LLP; Steve Beattie, Principal and co-leader of Financial Crime Compliance Practice, Ernst & Young LLP

In the second session, EY US Financial Crime Compliance Practice co-leader Brian Ferrell moderated “Understanding economic sanctions and the global impacts of US actions” panel joined by EY Financial Services Principal Josh Riley, EY Financial Services Senior Manager Kirill Meleshevich, and Paul, Weiss Partner Roberto Gonzalez. The panelists focused on economic sanctions and how Chinese institutions operating in the United States can respond to new sanctions compliance requirements, also provided insights into key compliance program elements, risk factors, challenges, and the evolution of North Korea sanctions over the past two years.

Brian Ferrell, Financial Crime Compliance Practice co-leader, Ernst & Young LLP ; Kirill Meleshevich, US Financial Services Senior Manager, Ernst & Young; Roberto Gonzalez, Partner, Paul, Weiss; Joshua Riley, Financial Services Principal, Ernst & Young LLP

In the last session, EY US Information Technology Advisory Principal Erin McAvoy moderated “FinCrime/sanctions technology challenges and DFS 504” panel, joined by EY Executive Director Donna Daniels, EY Financial Services Executive Director Kristin Milchanowski and Paul, Weiss Counsel Karen King. The discussions focused on data as the foundation of AML compliance and the importance of data quality and ongoing data governance. The panel also shared insights on how DFS-regulated firms should manage the new requirements of Part 504 rule, which requires institutions to certify their BSA/AML and Sanctions compliance programs, with specific focus on their transaction monitoring processes.

Erin McAvoy, US Information Technology Advisory Regulatory Compliance Principal, Ernst & Young LLP; Kristin Milchanowski, Financial Services Executive Director, Ernst & Young LLP; Karen King, Counsel, Paul, Weiss; Donna Daniels, Executive Director, Ernst & Young LLP

After each panel, the hosting team received questions from the financial institutions and forum attendees, the panelists responded with insights based on their professional experiences and case studies. The forum event has observed great interests and enthusiasm from the audience.

After the of the sessions, Shau Zhang, EY Americas Market Leader of China Overseas Investment, gave the closing remarks for the forum and thanked everyone for their participation. This was followed by a lunch and continued informal discussion.

Shau Zhang, Partner, Americas Market Leader of China Overseas Investment, Ernst & Young LLP

Recognizing the team work：

EY speakers and team

The tremendous success of this event and its impact from the participants are reflective of the team’s commitment to excellence and attention to details, which are critical factors for such accomplishment. Below are the individuals we would like to highlight for their hard work and contributions supporting the leadership team during the planning and execution phases:

Kirill Meleschevich and Andrew Durkin led the effort of compiling the panel materials. Yi Gao, Ella Zhou, Yuwei Zhang, Sophie Zhang, for their roles of planning and coordinating across EY and CGCC teams over forum organization, preparation, marketing material development, event logistics and client interactions.

If you would like to learn more about this forum and EY services associated, please contact:

[columns size="1/2" last="false"]