Bank of Jordan Implements Advanced System to Monitor Financial Transactions

The Bank of Jordan has introduced a cutting-edge automated system designed to monitor financial transactions and detect potential breaches of international economic sanctions. This system was launched in response to the growing threat of money laundering and terrorism financing.

The Automated System

The system uses advanced algorithms to analyze outgoing and incoming financial transactions from high-risk countries, allowing the bank’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing unit to review transactions and verify that they do not violate international resolutions.

Training Programs for Employees

In addition to the automated system, the bank has implemented a range of training programs aimed at educating employees about the importance of complying with international economic sanctions. These programs cover topics such as:

• The concept of international economic sanctions
• The role of international committees in issuing sanctions
• The risk of breaching sanctions
• How to identify potential breaches and report them to the compliance department

All training records are archived for at least five years, including names of trainees, trainers, training materials, dates, and locations of training programs.

Record-Keeping Procedures

The bank’s financial sanctions compliance program also includes record-keeping procedures, which require all documents, records, and reports related to investigations, verifications, and notifications to be recorded and retained for a minimum of five years.

Policy Governance

The policy governing the bank’s international sanctions compliance program is reviewed annually by the compliance department and approved by the Board of Directors. The policy takes into account laws and regulations in countries where the bank operates foreign branches and subsidiaries, with the stricter instructions applying in cases of conflict.

Foreign branches and subsidiaries are entitled to create their own policies that emanate from the master policy and comply with local laws, which will be deemed automatically approved by the Board of Directors. Sub-policies must be created and approved by the competent unit or division responsible for overseeing compliance requirements at foreign branches or subsidiaries, in accordance with corporate governance rules applicable to each entity.

Industry Response

The bank’s commitment to implementing robust measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing has been welcomed by regulators and industry experts alike. The Jordanian Financial Regulatory Authority has praised the bank’s efforts, saying:

“We are pleased to see the Bank of Jordan taking proactive steps to ensure the integrity of its operations. Their efforts will help to maintain public confidence in the banking system and protect the country’s financial stability.”